Prof. Dr. Alexander S. Sobolev graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), where later he earned a Ph.D. Then he pioneered investigations in the role of cyclic nucleotides in radiation damage and radioprotection. This research field became a theme of Sobolev’s Doctor of Sciences thesis. Sobolev’s present positions: full professor of biophysics, Faculty of Biology, MSU, and head of department for Molecular Genetics of Intracellular Transport, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Beginning in the 1980s, targeted subcellular delivery of drugs and foreign genetic material became his main scientific interest. His group was among the first to develop DNA/polycation complexes for gene delivery (polyplexes). Sobolev’s group pioneered the use of polyplexes for the transformation of mammalian mammary glands to obtain foreign proteins with milk. Sobolev invented modular nanotransporters for drug delivery—mainly anti-tumor therapeutics—into the target cell nucleus. Drugs carried by these nanotransporters acquired significantly greater efficacy and cell specificity. This work was recognized by several awards, among them the Prix Galien Russia—Best Research (2013). In 2019, he was elected a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a member of editorial board of “Current Drug Discovery Technologies”, "Pharmaceutics", and "Frontiers in Pharmacology". His recent work involves creation and characterization of new modular nanotransporters.
