Modernization of material-technical base at YSU Institute of Pharmacy to launch

Within the framework of the competition "Providing financial support for the modernization of the material-technical base of scientific departments" announced by the Higher Education and Science Committee of the RA MoESCS, the institute will receive a new digital microscope and other professional equipment required for everyday use, including a vacuum evaporator, drying cabinet, water distiller apparatus and analytical balance.

Anna Mkrtchyan, Director of YSU Institute of Pharmacy, Head of the Scientific Research Center of the Institute of Pharmacy, Candidate of Chemical Sciences and Associate Professor, speaking about the new pieces of equipment, emphasized that in addition to the new digital microscope, equipment required for everyday use will be ordered as well, since the number of young researchers, undergraduate and graduate students involved in research studies is increasing, and researchers must be provided with such equipment. 

Obtaining, studying and exploring possibilities for application of chiral metal complexes catalytic systems, development of effective methods (stoichiometric and catalytic) of obtaining enantiomerically enriched, optically active, non-protein amino acids of different structures, and peptides consisting of these amino acids, medical and biological screening of the new synthesized compounds are the core of studies of Scientific Research Center of the Institute of Pharmacy.

Anahit Hovhannisyan, Head of Chair of Pharmaceutical Technology, Economy and Management of Pharmacy, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor, presenting the opportunities provided by the new digital microscope, emphasized that medical-biological research is in focus of the chair's studies. She informed that studies are being conducted recently to understand how antibiotic resistance of microbes develops. "Antimicrobial-resistant microbes are the main object of research, as well as pharmacognostic studies of various plants are carried out. The new microscope is powerful and has a fairly high magnification, thanks to which it is possible to distinguish microbes by studying their morphological features." 

Anahit Hovhannisyan, referring to antibiotic resistance of microbes, mentioned that there are many microbes in the air and water that are already resistant to more than 17 types of antibiotics, while no new antibiotics have been synthesized in the last 20 years. "Our primary task is the deeper study of antibiotic resistance of microbes. If a microbe obtains the antibiotic resistance gene, it easily transfers it not only to itself but also to bacteria of the opposite genera and also protects those bacteria that do not have this resistance gene against the attack of antibiotics. And no matter how much research is carried out, it’s scarce, since we want to contribute to the solution of this problem."

Within the framework of research studies of the Scientific Research Center of the Institute of Pharmacy, new compounds have been synthesized that affect on antibiotic-resistant strains, however, it takes many years of work to include these substances in any pharmaceutical preparation.