Elena N. Parovichnikova — General Director of the National Medical Research Center for Hematology of the Russian Ministry of Health, hematologist, Chief freelance hematology specialist of the Russian Ministry of Health, Doctor of Medical Sciences, hematologist, international expert and the country's leading specialist in the field of leukemia, bone marrow failure and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Elena Parovichnikova graduated with honors the 2nd Moscow State Medical Institute named after N.I. Pirogov in 1985 with a degree in general medicine. She completed her residency and postgraduate studies at the Department of Hematology and Intensive Care of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgradutate Education, Russian Ministry of Health (1985-1990).
Parovichnikova began working at the NMRC for Hematology in 1990.In 1992 she worked as a researcher at the Department of Hemoblastosis Chemotherapy and Bone Marrow Transplantation becoming the senior researcher of the same department in 2002. From May 2011 until September 2021, she served as the Head of the Department of Hemoblastosis Chemotherapy, Hematopoiesis Depression, and Bone Marrow Transplantation. In 2021 she became the Acting General Director and on September 20, 2021 she was named the General Director of the National Medical Research Center for Hematology of the Russian Ministry of Health. Since February 2022 she has been the chief freelance hematology specialist of the Russian Ministry of Health.
Parovichnikova defended her thesis for the degree Candidate of Medical Sciences on the topic, "Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Patients over 60 Years of Age" in 1992, and her thesis "New Treatment Programs for Acute Leukemia" for the degree Doctor of Medical Sciences, in 2003.
Elena N. Parovichnikova stands at the foundation and is the coordinator of all Russian multicenter studies on the treatment of acute leukemia in adult patients. She is the initiator of interregional cooperative interaction between the hematology centers of the country aimed at creating new, effective, and at the same time reproducible chemotherapy programs while monitoring the effectiveness of treatment of hemoblastosis. Under her leadership, new programs of differentiated treatment of acute leukemia based on the identification and monitoring of specific tumor markers have been developed. Furthermore, protocols for the treatment of patients with various variants of the disease were created, taking into account patient age and clinical features of the tumor process, making it possible to improve treatment results by 1.5-2 times. All of these works served as the cornerstone for the creation of domestic clinical recommendations for the treatment of acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, which took into account the experience and results of Russian multicenter clinical trials, the development of which was initiated and coordinated by Elena N. Parovichnikova. Currently, she directs two domestic multicenter randomized trials for the treatment of acute myeloid and lymphoblastic leukemias.
Parovichnikova expanded the strategy of treatment of acute leukemia in women at different stages of their pregnancy, proving the need and effectiveness of chemotherapy in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. For the first time in world practice, it was demonstrated that pregnancy is not an exclusion criterion when performing clinical prospective studies.
Elena Parovichnikova pays great attention not only to applied, but also to the fundamental aspects of medical science. The complex of work by the department headed by her on the study of the evolution of a residual leukemic clone, using methods of molecular genetics and flow cytofluorometry has received support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research in the form of grants and funding from the Institute of Clinical Trials.
Under the direction of Parovichnikova, approaches to the transplantation of allogeneic stem hematopoietic cells, to the search and selection of donors, and to the time regulations for transplant preparation have changed significantly. The volume of transplant care provided at the NMRC for Hematology has increased tenfold. Under her guidance protocols for the transplantation of allogeneic stem hematopoietic cells used in regional transplant centers were published. A number of studies have been carried out aimed at studying immune system reconstruction, the pathogenesis of the acute graft-versus-host reaction, prevention of relapse development, and the monitoring of the minimal residual population of tumor cells.
Parovichnikova is the chairman of the organizing committee of the conference "Leukemias and Lymphomas, Therapy and Fundamental Research,” which has been held biyearly for the past 30 years. She heads the Scientific Committee of the Congress of Hematologists of Russia, she is a recognized scientist in the world community, heads the working group of the Russian study on the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults, is a permanent member of the Pan-European working group on the treatment of these leukemias (EWALL), participates in the work of the European Leukemia Network (ELN), is the organizer of educational seminars on hematology (EHA tutorials) together with the European Hematology Association (EHA), is a member of EHA, has repeatedly spoken at international European congresses, and regularly participates in international expert councils.
Parovichnikova is a member of the Expert Council of the Higher Attestation Commission for Therapeutic Sciences (VAK), Deputy Chairman of the Profile Commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on Hematology, co-author of national for the treatment of acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, member of the Editorial Board of the journals "Hematology and Transfusiology," "Oncohematology," "Issues of Hematology/Oncology and Immunopathology in Pediatrics," member of the Reactionary Council of the journal "Therapeutic Archive," Chairman of the Scientific Council of the NRMC for Hematology of the Russian Ministry of Health, Chairman of the Problem Commission "Fundamental and Clinical Research in Hematology; Problems of Clinical and Industrial Transfusiology" of the NMRC for Hematology, member of the Supervisory Board of the National Hematology Society.
Parovichnikova has published 518 articles in the journals of the Higher Attestation Commission(VAK), including 233 articles indexed in Scopus, 2 monographs, 6 chapters in books, protected 4 copyright certificates of invention, and holds a Hirsch Index for publications in the RSCI – 21. Under her leadership, 18 Candidate of Medical Sciences theses have been completed and defended. Currently, 5 Candidate and 2 Doctoral dissertations are at the completion stage.
Elena N.Parovichnikova is a veteran of labor (since 2017), has the honorary title "Honored Health Worker of the Russian Federation" (2018), the badge "Excellent Health Worker" (2011), gratitude of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (2021), was awarded a Certificate of Honor of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (2009).
