Nina Borisovna Melnikova (born November 4, 1949, in Mordovia) is a chemist, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, and professor; founder and first head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Academy, and director of the Provizor quality-control testing laboratory for medicinal products [1][2].
Thirty years at Polytech, then pharmaceutics
She graduated from Ogarev Mordovia State University [1]. From 1974 to 2003 she worked at the Department of Physical and Colloid Chemistry at the Gorky Polytechnic Institute, which became the Nizhny Novgorod Technical University, and in 2003 moved to the pharmaceutical faculty of the medical academy [1].
Her field is the physical chemistry of surface phenomena, as well as pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry; she holds more than thirty patents for inventions and has over one hundred and fifty publications in Russian and international journals [1].
The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy was established within the pharmaceutical faculty in 2004, and Melnikova became its first head. Since 2020 the department has been led by Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Olga Zhukova [2].
Betulin from birch bark
One of the department's research directions under Melnikova was the highly efficient synthesis of medicinal compounds based on betulin, a triterpenoid obtained from birch bark (from the Latin Betula — birch) [2].
Lupane-series triterpenoids possess immunostimulating, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antiulcer, antimycobacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties; the department developed environmentally safe methods for producing oxo-betulins and new formulations based on them [2].
In 2019, the journal Khimiya Rastitel'nogo Syr'ya (Chemistry of Plant Raw Materials) published the review article "Betulin Derivatives: Biological Activity and Solubility Enhancement," co-authored with O. A. Vorobyova, D. S. Malygina, and E. V. Grubova [3].
Other Research Areas
The second area covers self-organizing monolayers and Langmuir–Blodgett films of fullerene and calixarene derivatives: biomimetic models of biological activity and enzyme biosensors for the analysis of blood, urine, and saliva, as well as toxicants in food, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industry products [2].
The third area focuses on new drug formulations based on domestically produced pharmaceutical substances: the oxopyrimidines ximedone and kristafon, the phosphonic acid derivative dimephosphon, and calcium carbonate micelate [2].
In 2012–2013, the department, together with the Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, received the [2] Volga Region grant for the project "Self-Organizing Nanolayers of (Thia)calixarene Derivatives for the Development of Enzyme Biosensors"; the research group included I. S. Antipin, S. E. Solovyova, Melnikova, and E. N. Kochetkov.
The department's laboratories are equipped with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, a liquid chromatograph, ultraviolet and infrared spectrophotometers, and particle size and zeta potential analyzers [2].
Students
Between 2005 and 2016, sixteen candidate dissertations in chemical and pharmaceutical sciences were defended at the department under Melnikova's supervision [2].
The dissertation topics ranged from monolayers and films to specific drug formulations: complexes of physiologically active substances with copper ions, mineral-biotic complexes of dihydroquercetin, ximedone gels and ointments, anti-osteoporotic components, and wound-healing preparations.
| Year | Candidate and topic |
|---|---|
| 2005 | M. S. Gusikhina — monolayers, thin films, and vesicles based on statistical copolymers and lecithin |
| 2006 | A. A. Volkov — complexes of physiologically active substances with copper ions at the active sites of ceruloplasmin |
| 2007 | I. A. Pegova — mineral-biotic complexes "dihydroquercetin — metal asparaginates" |
| 2009 | Yu. V. Chudetskaya — preparations based on kristafon and its silver salt; I. V. Gulyaev — complexes of dimephosphon with lithium compounds; O. E. Zhiltsova — films of C60 fullerene derivatives |
| 2012 | D. A. Panteleev — ximedon in hydrophilic gels and ointments; E. S. Ryzhova — complexes of kristafon with acids |
| 2013 | A. E. Bolshakova — phosphorus-containing compounds and carbonates of calcium and magnesium; I. V. Burlova — preparative synthesis of betulinic acid and aldehyde |
| 2015 | E. N. Kochetkov — monolayers of thiacalix[4]arenes with immobilized cytochrome c; M. V. Sidorova — complexes of phytic acid with biologically active amines |
| 2016 | R. A. Lebedeva, O. A. Vorobyova, V. M. Korobko, D. S. Malygina — betulin derivatives, a herbal preparation of betulin and thymol, a wound-healing preparation, phosphate-containing betulin derivatives |
An academy turned university
By order of the Russian Minister of Health dated February 8, 2018, the medical academy where Melnikova's department is based was reorganized into the Privolzhsky Research Medical University; the Privolzhsky Federal Medical Research Center was merged into it, and Nizhny Novgorod gained its first university clinic, with approximately five hundred beds [4].
The department retained both its name and its subjects: pharmaceutical chemistry, toxicological chemistry, pharmacognosy, modern methods of pharmaceutical analysis, industrial technology, and biotechnology [2].
Students of the department complete internships and practical training at pharmaceutical manufacturing enterprises; the department holds annual research and practice conferences together with the pharmaceutical industry [2].
Sources
- yumpu.com — Who's Who in Nizhny Novgorod Region — Melnikova Nina Borisovna, Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, NGMA. Issue 5, p. 127 (archive)
- pimunn.ru — PIMU — Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy: history, research areas, dissertations defended under the supervision of N. B. Melnikova (archive)
- cyberleninka.ru — CyberLeninka
- Kommersant (Volga Region) — Nizhny Novgorod — Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy renamed: order of the Minister of Health dated February 8, 2018 (archive)