Boris Evgenievich Peterson (14 June 1923, Nizhny Novgorod — 17 December 1981, Moscow) was a Soviet oncological surgeon, Doctor of Medical Sciences (1962), professor (1964), and corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (1978). A native of Nizhny Novgorod and a graduate of the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy, he later headed the P. A. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute and became one of the organizers of oncology education in Soviet medical schools.[2]

Nizhny Novgorod years

Peterson was born into a family of hereditary physicians and pharmacists: both his father and mother were doctors. While still in school he wrote an independent study on the flora and fauna of the Vetluga (disambiguation) and received a diploma from the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition.[2] In 1941 he passed the entrance exams as an external student to the S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy, evacuated to Kuibyshev, but did not make it to the front due to a severe form of tuberculosis. In 1947 he graduated with honors from the Gorky Medical Institute and was kept on at the Department of Faculty Surgery.[2]

He then moved to the Gorky Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics (also referred to in sources as the Institute of Reconstructive Surgery and Traumatology), where he worked under the direction of Nikolai Nikolaevich Blokhin. During this period Peterson worked on developing a technique for cartilage tissue transplantation that restored working capacity to maimed veterans of the front.[2][3] Later, at the clinic of Professor E. L. Berezov, he worked as an assistant and then as an associate professor at the Department of Surgery.[3]

Scientific and teaching career in Moscow

In 1959–1960, at the invitation of Academician Blokhin, Peterson transferred to the Moscow Institute of Experimental and Clinical Oncology of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, where he created its first surgical department, which later became the thoracic department.[2][3] In 1962 he defended his doctoral dissertation on "A comparative assessment of esophago-intestinal and esophago-gastric anastomoses from the standpoint of suture insufficiency," and in 1964 received the title of professor.[2]

From 1964 he headed the Department of Oncology of the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Studies (later the Department of Oncology of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education). He was one of the initiators of teaching oncology as an independent discipline in Soviet medical schools.[2][3] In 1977 he took charge of the P. A. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute, holding this post until his death in 1981. He simultaneously served as chairman of the board of the All-Russian Scientific Society of Oncologists (1977–1981).[2]

Peterson's monographs include "Lung Cancer," "Cancer of the Proximal Stomach," and "Early Oncological Pathology"; he is also the author of textbooks for higher education institutions.[2][3]

Recognition

In 1972 he was awarded the N. N. Petrov Prize of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences in the field of oncology. In 1978 he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences.[2] Dozens of eminent oncologists consider him their teacher and mentor.[1] The Museum of the History of the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy includes Peterson among its distinguished graduates.[3]

Sources

  1. znanierussia.ru — Peterson, Boris Evgenievich (archive)
  2. history.nizhgma.ru — Museum of the History of NizhGMA — View Person
  3. ronc.ru — On 14 June 2023, Boris Evgenievich Peterson would have turned 100! Dozens of eminent oncologists consider him their teacher and mentor. Thousands… (archive)