[The teacher (scientific forensic legacy of professor M.I. Avdeev)]. / Ob uchitele (nauchnoe sudebno-meditsinskoe nasledie professora M.I. Avdeeva).

Main directions of scientific and scientific-practical activity of the professor Mikhail Ivanovich Avdeev are described in the article. These include: a set of scientific tasks to justify the staff and organizational structure, organization and justification of the expert work content in the specialized military forensic service, including the training programs development for specialization and thematic improvement of forensic experts; determining the limits of competence for forensic experts in determining the violent death type; systematization of causes and death conditions; establishing structure of sudden death causes in young persons; assessment of the pathogenetic role of trauma and pathology in the development of basal subarachnoid hemorrhages; formulation of the conceptual base content for forensic medicine; justification of a scientifically based sequence of forensic medicine reproduction; creation of a scientific school of military forensic experts; preparation and publication of about 50 textbooks, manuals and, monographs on forensic medicine, including the fundamental work «Forensic Medicine Course¼, «Forensic Examination of Living People¼, «Forensic Corpse Examination¼.

Historia de vida del Dr. C. Oscar B. Alonso Chil, ejemplo para la educación médica cubana / Life history of Ph.D. Oscar B. Alonso Chil, a role model for cuban medical education

Introducción: El Dr. C. Oscar B. Alonso Chil (1930-2021) formó parte de los médicos que permanecieron en Cuba después del triunfo de la Revolución. Fue fundador de servicios de asistencia en medicina interna y geriatría, y realizó importantes contribuciones a la docencia médica. Objetivo: Exponer la trayectoria de Oscar B. Alonso Chil como médico y docente de la medicina cubana revolucionaria, a través de su historia de vida. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio de tipo descriptivo y de corte cualitativo, donde se utilizó la técnica de la historia de vida, centrada en el aspecto profesional. Para ello se hizo una entrevista semiestructurada al testimoniante como fuente fundamental de información. Se validó el testimonio oral mediante la revisión de la documentación oficial en su expediente docente y la literatura científica existente relacionada con el tema, además de entrevistas a sus alumnos y compañeros de trabajo. Desarrollo: Se constató que fundó servicios; organizó la actividad docente; realizó tutorías, publicaciones y asesorías; y fue miembro de tribunales y consejos científicos. Cada una de sus actividades las desempeñó con gran compromiso e incondicionalidad a su profesión, lo cual le generó mucha satisfacción con la vida. Llegó a ostentar las más altas distinciones por su trabajo: Especialista de Segundo Grado en Medicina Interna, y Profesor Titular, Consultante y de Mérito de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana. Conclusiones: Oscar B. Alonso Chil contribuyó al desarrollo de la medina interna en Cuba en la etapa revolucionaria. Este profesor representa un modelo para los estudiantes de ciencias médicas por su prestigio profesional y científico(AU)

Introduction: Ph.D. Oscar B. Alonso Chil (b. 1930-d. 2021) was one of the physicians who stayed in Cuba after the triumph of the Revolution. He was a founder of the healthcare services for internal medicine and geriatrics, and made important contributions to medical teaching. Objective: To present the professional career of Oscar B. Alonso Chil as a physician and teacher of revolutionary Cuban medicine, through his life history. Methods: A descriptive and qualitative study was carried out, using the life history technique, focused on the professional aspect. For this purpose, a semistructured interview was conducted with the testimony witness as a fundamental source of information. The oral testimony was validated by reviewing the official documentation in his teaching file and the existing scientific literature related to the subject; in addition to interviews with his students and coworkers. Development: It was observed that he founded services, organized the teaching activity, supervised research, made publications and consultancies, and was a member of scientific boards and councils. He performed each of these activities with great commitment and unconditionality to his profession, which gave him great satisfaction with life. He achieved holding the highest distinctions for his work: second-degree specialist in Internal Medicine, as well as Full Professor, Faculty Consultant and Emeritus Professor of the University of Medical Sciences of Havana. Conclusions: Oscar B. Alonso Chil contributed to the development of internal medicine in Cuba during the revolutionary period. This professor represents a role model for students of medical sciences due to his professional and scientific prestige(AU)

In Memory of Michael G. Rossmann: A Wise Man with a Forever Young Heart.

Whenever I think about Michael's passing, a sad feeling still strikes me [...].

Ramón Madrigal Lomba, médico e historiador / Ramón Madrigal Lomba: doctor and historian

RESUMEN Las ciencias médicas matanceras, a lo largo de su historia, han contado con personalidades reconocidas por sus conocimientos y entrega a sus respectivas especialidades. En el campo de la Cirugía contemporánea, se destaca el doctor y profesor Ramón Madrigal Lomba, quien unió a su desempeño quirúrgico y pedagógico la pasión por la historia, lo que también lo llevó a sobresalir en esa disciplina. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue contribuir al conocimiento de su vida y su obra (AU).

ABSTRACT Medical sciences in Matanzas have had, for many years, the contribution of many personalities known by their knowledge and devotion to the medical specialties they have practiced. Contemporarily, doctor and professor Ramon Madrigal Lomba stood out in the specialty of Surgery; he summed up to his surgical and pedagogical performance a passion for History, a subject where he also excelled. The objective of this work was modestly contributing to the knowledge of his life and work (AU).

Wah Soon Chow, a teacher, a friend and a colleague.

To finish this special issue, some friends, colleagues and students of Prof. Chow (Emeritus Professor, the Research School of Biology, the Australian National University) have written small tributes to acknowledge not only his eminent career but to describe his wonderful personality.

Celebrating the 75th birthday of Professor Wladek Minor, one of the most accomplished Polish-American structural biologists.

This paper describes the scientific career and accomplishments of Professor Wladek Minor, who holds an endowed chair at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, USA. Prof. Minor is a coauthor of data processing software used by macromolecular crystallographers world-wide, as well as of structural biology servers and of a repository for raw diffraction data. He made major contributions to the validation of biostructural data, with special focus on drug design targets and reproducibility in biomedical research. He is among the most highly cited molecular biologists ever.

Professor Xenophon J Contiades: The most significant medical loss during World War II in Greece.

Xenophon J Contiades was born in Marseille in 1903. After a brilliant career as a surgeon and Chef de Clinique in Paris receiving numerous awards and publishing more than 100 manuscripts, Contiades returned to Greece to become Professor of Surgery at the University of Athens being appointed as Director of the Surgery Clinic at the "Hippokration" General Hospital of Athens. At the beginning of the Second World War, Professor Contiades exhorted his students to defend their country. He concluded his final lecture by saying: "Gentlemen, you know what happened to our homeland. I believe that each one of us will do his duty. I wish you good luck. The lesson is over!" As Director of the Surgery Clinic of the Ioannina Military Hospital at the war front, he organized the clinic for the treatment of frostbitten and seriously injured warriors. He died as a hero during a German Nazi air strike on the Hospital building bearing the Red Cross sign on 20 April 1941 (Easter day) while operating on a patient who survived. We should not forget a man who lead a meaningful and glorious but short life dedicated to the service of his country and mankind in very difficult times.

Perspectives on Geoff Burnstock as researcher, teacher and friend.

Geoffrey Burnstock, one of the most talented and brilliant scientists of his generation, was born on the 10th of May 1929 in London and died on the 2ndof June 2020, aged 91, in Melbourne (Australia). Geoffrey Burnstock started his research studies with an interest in the nerves controlling the guts of guinea pigs, and discovered a completely unexpected and ubiquitous signalling system mediated via extracellular nucleotides (the "purinergic theory"), which revolutionized our understanding of how cells communicate between each other. He made the highly controversial discovery that ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a molecule well known to biochemists for its role as a source of energy inside cells, could also transmit signals between them. Initially, his somewhat heretical theory, that did not fit conventional views, found considerable resistance in the scientific community. However, he continued to accumulate evidence in favor of his hypothesis, extending it to a variety of organs and systems and demonstrating a role for purinergic signaling in the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems, and in the pathophysiology of pain, blood clotting, cell proliferation and differentiation, and immunity. For his entire life, he struggled to attract scientists to this new field and, finally, in the early 1990s, did evidence emerge that convinced the doubters, due to new molecular biology techniques making it possible to isolate and identify the cell surface receptors for ATP and its breakdown product, adenosine. His death clearly impacted a huge number of scientists who have lost their pioneering leader. In this Review, I will not talk of the many discoveries made by Professor Burnstock, nor of his enormous scientific contributions to the field and of the incredible number of prizes and public recognitions that he has received after his theory was accepted worldwide. Instead, I will share some personal memories on him as a teacher and scientist, and, most of all, as a loyal and reliable friend. Geoff was an extraordinary human being, always eager to collaborate and share data, never jealous of his findings and capable of learning even from young people. He was known for his enthusiasm, empathy and ability to motivate young scientists. I was lucky to meet him when I was still very young, and the collaboration and friendship that we established and maintained across the years has profoundly conditioned my professional and personal life. For me, Geoff was what in Italy we call a "Maestro", one of those leading figures who are fundamental not only for mentoring an individual's career but also their growth as a scientist and as a human being.

Aniruddh Patel.

Interview with Aniruddh Patel, who studies the cognitive, neural, and evolutionary foundations of music at Tufts University.

Colaboración hispano-alemana en Bioquímica mantenida por miembros de la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia y por otros bioquímicos españoles / Spanish-German collaboration in Biochemistry maintained by members of the Royal Academy National of Pharmacy and by other Spanish biochemists

Considerada la Bioquímica alemana como la pionera en el mundo, ya en la etapa inicial de la misma, hacia 1872, se estableció la primera vinculación entre el Profesor alemán fundador de esta disciplina, Felix von Hoppe-Seyler, y el Catedrático español de Química Orgánica Laureano Calderón Arana. Después, algunos de los Catedráticos de la recién establecida asignatura de Química Biológica, cuya enseñanza se impartía únicamente en la Facultad de Farmacia madrileña para los alumnos de Doctorado (común a Farmacia, Medicina y Ciencias), mantuvieron esta relación, aunque menos intensa, con sus colegas germanos. Pero, a partir de 1928, el que sería Premio Nobel, Dr. Severo Ochoa, trabajó durante largos periodos en prestigiosos Departamentos de Berlín y Heidelberg. Y ya en época reciente, bioquímicos pertenecientes a la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia (RANF) han continuado esta vinculación colaborando en diversos Departamentos alemanes. Por otro lado, bioquímicos germanos han impartido conferencias en Universidades españolas, invitados por sus colegas hispanos, además de hacerlo en congresos o simposios en España. Asimismo, algunos de ellos han sido miembros de la RANF

German can be considered as world pioneer in the development of Biochemistry. Its founder, Prof. Felix von Hoppe-Seyler, established contacts with the Spanish Professor of Organic Chemistry, Laureano Calderón Arana, since the onset of this subject around 1872. Later, some other Professors of the newly created Química Biológica, which was taught only at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Madrid as a subject common to doctoral students in Pharmacy, Medicine and Science, maintained a connection, albeit minor, with their German colleagues. From 1928, Dr. Severo Ochoa, who would subsequently win a Nobel Prize, worked for long periods in the prestigious Departments at Berlin and Heidelberg. More recently, other biochemists, members of the Royal Academy National of Pharmacy (RANF), have followed this connection with several German Departments. Furthermore, German biochemists have delivered lectures in Spanish Universities invited by their Spanish colleagues, in addition to their participation in Spanish symposia. Moreover, several German biochemists have been RANF members