Yuriy Leonidovich Shevchenko
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Honorary Head and Professor of the Department, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General of the Medical Service, Doctor of Theological Sciences, Archimandrite
He was born on April 7, 1947 in Yakutsk. He began his career as a sailor in Azov Sea and Black Sea immediately after graduating from school. In
During his first year in the university, he made the final choice to devote his life to surgery and, especially, cardiac surgery. Y.L. Shevchenko attended the research section for hospital surgery and also worked as a medical orderly in the operating room of the clinic. This allowed him not only to be present at the operations, but also to eagerly observe the outstanding operational skills of Academician I.S. Kolesnikov and Professor N.V. Putov. Professor M.I. Lytkin had a significant impact on him as a clinical surgeon.
After graduating from the Academy in 1974, he served as the commander of the surgical dressing platoon of a separate medical battalion. Since 1975, he had been working in the Department of Hospital Surgery of the Academy as a senior resident of the clinic
The scientific path of Y.L. Shevchenko is characterized by an extremely wide range of his research interests. Despite being invariably faithful to cardiac surgery, he investigated lung abnormalities and pneumomycosis. These materials were used in two chapters of a guideline for doctors “Surgery of the lungs and pleura” (1988). In the beginning of his career, Y.L. Shevchenko investigated the pathogenesis of acute myocardial insufficiency, its treatment, including artificial blood circulation. He made a significant contribution to the surgical treatment of congenital heart defects. For example, he developed a technique to repair cardiac septum defects using autologous pericardium.
His talent of a scientist manifested itself in the ability to see the full depth of a scientific problem in particular issues. For instance, he managed to develop a separate scientific direction from a single surgical technique used for the treatment of infectious endocarditis and called it purulent-septic cardiac surgery. An unconventional approach to the problem of intracardiac infection allowed him to develop the concept of the sanitizing effect of artificial blood circulation. This concept far preceded modern methods of extracorporeal correction of homeostasis disorders. Many years of experience in surgical treatment of patients with angiogenic sepsis with a septic focus in the heart showed that his program transformed artificial blood circulation from a risk factor for fatal complications into a powerful therapeutic factor that ensures the rehabilitation of the entire body. Y.L. Shevchenko created a rationale and implemented the principle of comprehensive disinfection of cardiac chambers. He was the first to demonstrate safety and high efficiency of chemical disinfection of cardiac chambers using performic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Flawless experiments allowed him to use this antiseptic in patients. He also used ultrasound for physical disinfection of destruction foci in the heart (inaccessible to mechanical treatment) for the first time. His complex morphological and bacteriological examinations with the analysis of surgical outcomes in patients with acquired heart defects complicated by valve calcification allowed us to draw an extremely important practical conclusion that calcium deposits in the heart are a focus of chronic intracardiac infection. An experiment showed that laser treatment for decalcification of intracardiac structures can be promising. Examining short-term and long-term surgical outcomes in patients with heart defects, he developed special criteria for assessing the reserves of the body and mathematical models to predict surgical outcomes. He developed a program of rehabilitation and follow-up of patients with infectious endocarditis, which was described in a special chapter in the guideline “Medical rehabilitation.”
Y.L. Shevchenko has the world’s largest experience in surgical treatment of patients with infectious endocarditis (over 7,000 clinical cases, including more than 3,500 patients who were operated on). In recent years, he obtained encouraging results with silver impregnation of prosthetic heart valves to prevent recurrence of intracardiac infection. High professionalism and deep theoretical knowledge allow Y.L. Shevchenko to make non-standard decisions in the most difficult surgical situations. For example, he was the first who has successfully performed an open-heart operation without artificial circulation for a shrapnel gunshot wound to the heart in a military hospital. He also performed three heart transplantations. The search for a lower surgical aggression in seriously ill patients resulted in the development and implementation into clinical practice a “gentle” surgical approach for open-heart interventions with artificial circulation.
The scientific search of Dr. Shevchenko seems to be original because of his ability to detect contradictions in widely accepted theories. For example, all guidelines state infectious endocarditis as an absolute contraindication for the preparation of autologous transfusion media. Studies of Y.L. Shevchenko have demonstrated that exfusion of blood and its components in such patients in the preoperative period is reasonable. Moreover, these studies have also shown high safety and good therapeutic effect of this procedure. His findings allow for the revision of the infusion-transfusion programs with a minimum use of whole donor blood and its components. Extensive experience in transfusiological support during cardiac surgeries in patients with generalized infections served as a basis for the monograph “Cardiac surgical transfusiology” (2000). When Y.L. Shevchenko became the head of the Department and P.A. Kupriyanov Clinic of Cardiovascular Surgery, his research interest has expanded. His team has been actively studying the problems of treating patients with coronary heart disease. He was one of the initiators of performing follow-up coronary angiography in the early postoperative period. He demonstrated relative safety of this invasive study and its exceptional diagnostic value. Uncompromising medical honesty and unconditional preference for the patient’s interests allowed Y.L. Shevchenko not only to break the professional corporate framework, but also to make this study essentially an objective control of the effectiveness of myocardial revascularization surgery. He studied possibilities of pharmacological correction of intraoperative left ventricular diastolic dysfunction using a wide range of drugs, including cholinesterase reactivators (dipiroxime), neuromodulators (taurine), and actoprotectors (bemitil). He implemented into clinical practice electrophysiological examinations to assess the origin of rhythm and conduction disorders in patients with cardiovascular disorders. He organized a comprehensive study analyzing the effects of ozonated isotonic salt solutions on the homeostasis of cardiac surgery patients.
Y.L. Shevchenko is one of the pioneers of Russian cardioneurology. He was the first cardiac surgeon who emphasized the need for comprehensive neurological support during open-heart surgeries. His extensive surgical experience and fruitful cooperation with leading neurologists laid the foundations of the monographs “Topographic mapping of EEG in neurological practice” (1996), “Cardiac surgical aggression and the brain: cerebral hemodynamics and neurological outcomes of heart surgery” (1997), and “Cardioembolic stroke” (1997). His research was of great theoretical and practical importance. Dr. Shevchenko edited the guideline for doctors “Antithrombotic therapy for patients with ischemic stroke” published in 2004.
Large-scale studies in vascular surgery have been conducted. Specific characteristics of surgeries in patients with generalized forms of atherosclerotic arterial lesions have been studied. A program of fundamental research in phlebology has been implemented. Venous hemodynamic disorders in patients with varicose veins have been studied using novel non-invasive methods. Reconstructive surgery techniques on the major veins have been developed. Y.L. Shevchenko edited a unique monograph “Errors, dangers, and complications in vein surgery” published in 1999.
The problems of transplantology were actively investigated, including not only practical aspects of organ and tissue transplantation, but also theoretical issues of histocompatibility. The assessment of cell replacement therapy for myocardial disorders was something fundamentally new. The original idea of Y.L. Shevchenko about the application of embryonic cardiomyocyte cultures to correct cardiac muscle dysfunction was implemented both in the experiment and in clinical practice. The culture of endotheliocytes was successfully used for lining the inner surface of synthetic vascular grafts in an experiment. Further experimental studies have shown high efficiency of embryonic endotheliocytes culture and growth factors in stimulation of angiogenesis in ischemic tissues.
Y.L. Shevchenko paid particular attention to military medical aspects in his studies. He addressed not only clinical challenges (specialized medical care to wounded and sick servicemen), but also the issues of healthcare organization to the wounded at various stages in warfare.
Since 1992, Y.L. Shevchenko has been a representative of the Russian Federation in the International Committee of Military Medicine. He initiated the creation of the international movement “In Defense of Military Doctors”. He was involved in the development of international military-medical cooperation in the country and successful implementation of major international programs (Center for Telemedicine Technologies, exchange of students and young specialists, and joint scientific publications). He is one of the editors of the fundamental scientific work “Healthcare of Russia. Twentieth century” (2001), where the authors for the first time analyzed the development of healthcare in Russia during the 20th century, including the most challenging health problems associated with the political and socio-economic processes of late 20th century. He is the editor-in-chief of the journals “Clinical Medicine and Pathophysiology” and “Bulletin of the International Center for Quality of Life Research.” Dr. Shevchenko is a member of the editorial boards of the journals " I.I. Grekov Bulletin of Surgery," “Bulletin of Saint Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences,” “Military Medical Journal,” “Medical Academic Journal,” “International Reviews of the Military Medical Service,” “Problems of Rehabilitation,” and “Pathology of Circulation and Cardiac Surgery.” He is the founder and the first editor-in-chief of the “Bulletin of the Russian Military Medical Academy.”
Being the head of the Military Medical Academy, Dr. Shevchenko nurtured high spiritual qualities of future military doctors and strived to restore the best traditions of humanism and self-sacrifice of Russian doctors. He is the author of the world’s first memorial to “World Doctors who fell in Wars” located on the territory of the Academy. The city square where the monument stands was named “Military Medics Square” by the decision of the Mayor’s Office and the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg. A memorial monument to the legendary “Stalingrad Course” was opened on the territory of the former Naval Medical Academy, most of whose graduates died heroically in the Great Patriotic War. Dr. Shevchenko invited Father Bogdan (Professor Soyko) of the St. Nicholas Epiphany Cathedral to join the Academic Council of the Academy. Due to his pastoral and educational activity, Father Bogdan has become a true spiritual mentor for many students of the Academy and its staff. Noting the exceptional merits of the Orthodox Church in mercy, at the suggestion of Y.L. Shevchenko, the Academic Council elected Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and Russia an honorary doctor of the Academy.
As the head of the Scientific and Pedagogical School (cardiac surgery) of the Presidential Foundation for the Support of the Leading Scientific Schools of Russia and the scientific supervisor, Y.L. Shevchenko supervised more than 80 doctoral and candidate thesises. For several years, he was the chairman of the specialized dissertation council on surgery of the Military Medical Academy. He has co-authored more than 400 research works, including 17 monographs. Notably, he edited a two-volume coursebook ‘Practical Surgery.’ A third, revised edition of this book is currently being prepared.
On July 5, 1999 Y.L. Shevchenko was appointed as Minister of Health of Russia by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation. Until December 2000, he headed the Military Medical Academy and the Department and Clinic of Cardiovascular Surgery.
Y.L. Shevchenko is the author of the Russian Healthcare Concept as a life support system, a factor of national security, and the first priority of the state. As a member of the Russian Government, Y.L. Shevchenko paid great attention to the healthcare development in the regions of the Russian Federation. He made numerous trips around the country, performed surgeries on the heart and main vessels in local clinics, and promoted the implementation of the most sophisticated novel technologies in the regions. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the economic aspects of health care and medical law. In 1999, Dr. Shevchenko brought up the issue of the legislative activity regulating the problem of national security in health protection of Russian citizens, which was considered by the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Y.L. Shevchenko was involved in the development of several federal targeted programs adopted by the Russian Government. These programs were aimed to address certain healthcare problems associated with disease prevention in the Russian population, including diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, HIV infection, as well as to create an effective system of vaccination. The fact that Dr. Shevchenko has been the Minister of Health in three governments shows that he had the authority in government circles of the country.
Between 2000 and 2005, Dr. Shevchenko was the head of the Department of Burdenko Faculty Surgery at I.M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy.
He has been a member of Berlin Surgical Society since 1999.
In 2002, he organized N.I. Pirogov National Medical and Surgical Center, Ministry of Health of Russia, where he was elected president at the meeting of the Scientific Council. Being the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, he was a president of the Center on a voluntary basis. Since March 20th 2004, President and Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Center has been his main position.
Since 2004, Dr. Shevchenko has been a Chief Surgeon of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation.
Y.L. Shevchenko is a Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Academician and Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Academician of the Military Medical Academy, Academician of the International Academy of Ecology, Human, and Nature Safety, Colonel General of the Medical Service, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Honored Doctor of Chuvashia, Honorary citizen of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, and laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2000). He is also a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Physiological Sciences, a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Member of the Bureau of Clinical Medicine of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, President of N.I. Pirogov Russian Association of Surgeons, Chairman of the International Award Committee “International Award of Academician Boris Petrovsky” — gold medal “Outstanding Surgeon of the world” created by him, Member of the Presidium of the Russian Society of Physicians, Board Member of the Russian Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons of N.I. Pirogov Surgical Society of Saint Petersburg, Member of the European Society of Cardiovascular Surgery, Member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He is the winner of the Michael DeBakey International Award for Surgeons (1996) and Rudolf Virchow International Prize (1999). He was also awarded the Order of the US Department of Defense for his contribution to the development of military medicine. Dr. Shevchenko is a Honorary Professor of the Russian Research Center of Surgery, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (1997), Honorary Doctor of the Military Medical Academy (1999), Honorary Doctor of the Research Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (2000), Honorary Professor of I.P. Pavlov Saint Petersburg State University (2005), Honorary Professor of the Erisman Research Institute of Hygiene (2002), Honorary Professor of the State Siberian Medical University (2000), Professor of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (1996).
He was awarded the Order of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, III degree (1998), International Order of St. Constantine the Great (1998), Peter the Great Gold Medal “For services to the restoration of science and the economy of Russia” of the International Academy of Natural and Social Sciences (1995), Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (1999), N.A. Semashko Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Award (2002), V.I. Kolesov’s Medal “For significant contribution to cardiovascular surgery” (2016), Wylie’s Order (2017), E.I. Smirnov’s Medal (2017), Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” IV degree (2017), and Hippocrates’ Order (2019).
Honorary titles, awards and prizes
- Permanent Representative of Russia to the International Committee on Military Medicine
- Since 2000, Permanent Representative of Russia to the World Health Organization
- Member of the Bureau of Clinical Medicine, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences
- Academician and Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Chairman of the Department of Fundamental Medicine of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
- Academician of S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy
- Honored Doctor of Chuvashia
- Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2000)
- Laureate of the Michael DeBakey International Award for Surgeons (1996)
- Laureate of the Rudolf Virchow International Prize (1999)
- Laureate of the N.A. Semashko Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Award (2002)
- Alexander Nevsky Literary Prize, Union of Writers of Russia (2008)
- Laureate of the Pirogov Award (2022)
- Chairman of the International Award Committee “International Award of Academician Boris Petrovsky” — gold medal “Outstanding Surgeon of the world”
- Member of the Coordinating Committee of the Research Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Physiological Sciences
- Board Member of the Russian Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons
- Member of the European Society of Cardiovascular Surgery
- Member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery
- Professor of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (1996)
- Honorary Professor of the Russian Research Center of Surgery, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (1997)
- Honorary Doctor of the Military Medical Academy (1999)
- Honorary Doctor of the Research Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (2000)
- Honorary Doctor of Siberian State Medical University (2001)
- Honorary Professor of the Erisman Research Institute of Hygiene (2002)
- Honorary Professor of St. Petersburg State University (2004)
- Honorary Doctor of I.P. Pavlov St. Petersburg State Medical University (2004)
- Honorary Professor of Lomonosov Moscow State University (2008)
- Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia
- Permanent Representative of Russia to the International Committee on Military Medicine
- Since 2000, Permanent Representative of Russia to the World Health Organization
- Order of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, II degree (1998)
- International Order of St. Constantine the Great (1998)
- Order of the US Department of Defense (1998)
- Peter the Great Gold Medal of the International Academy of Natural and Social Sciences (1995)
- St. Panteleimon’s Order (2021)
- V.I. Kolesov’s Medal “For significant contribution to cardiovascular surgery” (2016)
- Wylie’s Order (2017)
- E.I. Smirnov’s Medal (2017)
- Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” IV degree (2017)
- Hippocrates’ Order (2019)
- Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” II degree (2022)
- Gold medal of Nobel laureate Peter Kapitsa (2023)
