About us

The N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of Oncology is a Federal State Budgetary Institution under the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation. It is one of the largest federal research and treatment centers in Russia, which provides exceptional specialty medical care, including high-tech medical care, while its scientists and researchers explore the methods for prevention, detection and treatment of cancer.

The Center began as the Institute of Oncology, founded on March 15 1927 in Leningrad. In 2017, it changed its name to the N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of Oncology. Today, the Center is one of the oldest medical institutions in the North-Western Federal District of Russia. The Center proudly bears the name of its founder, Nikolai N. Petrov, who is hailed as the father of oncology in Russia. Throughout its long history, the Center has been a unique place of science and a home to an extraordinary group of scientists, among whom are S.A. Holdin, L.M. Shabad, A.I. Rakov, A.I. Serebrov, N.P. Napalkov, M.L. Gershanovich, V.N. Anisimov, V.F. Semiglasov and many others.

The Center includes 17 departments of scientific research, 20 clinical units, 16 ancillary clinical units and 3 ambulatory diagnostic departments.

The Center employs more than 1,100 physicians, including the nation’s top oncology specialists, among whom are corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhDs and Doctors of Medical Sciences, and physicians awarded the highest qualification categories.

The N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of Oncology is a multidiscipline clinical, research and teaching medical institution in the field of oncology with the main focus on:

• Research
  The main areas of scientific research at the Center include the investigation of the etiology and pathogenic mechanisms of carcinogenesis, as well as the development of the methods for prevention, detection, and surgical, radiation, medicinal, combination and holistic treatment of malignant tumors in adults and children.
• Treatment and diagnostic services
  The clinical units of the Center provide comprehensive in-patient and ambulatory care of cancer patients and patients with benign neoplasms, as well as case follow-up of high risk cancer patients. Annually, the Center provides in-patient care and consultative and diagnostic services to about 100,000 patients from all over Russia and CIS countries.
• Education and training
  The Center provides medical education and training to students during their residency years, and offers postgraduate medical education programs, as well as continuing professional education programs. More than 400 physicians from Russia and other countries undergo training at the Center every year. Moreover, the Center serves as a clinical and research site of oncology departments of some higher educational establishments of St Petersburg.
• Academic publishing
  The Center publishes the oldest Russian continuously published medical journal, Problemy oncologii (Problems in Oncology), which is listed in the peer-reviewed scientific publication registry of the State Commission for Academic Degrees and Titles of Russia. The staff of the Center contribute to such journals as Uspehi gerontologii (Advances in Gerontology), Vestnik gerontologicheskogo obshestva RAN (Journal of the Gerontology Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and Prakticheskaya oncologiya (Practical Oncology).
• Professional events and scientific community involvement
  The Center is a founder of the Oncology Association of the North-Western Federal District of Russia and is an active member of the St Petersburg Oncology Society. The Center regularly holds research and training conferences, workshops and forums. So far, the largest international event has been the St Petersburg International Oncology Forum WHITE NIGHTS.
• Public information campaigns
  The Center actively uses public information campaigns to raise awareness among patients, their relatives and all health conscious people of the latest methods for prevention, screening, detection and treatment of cancer, as well as the advances of oncology. Via a wide range of communications channels, including television, radio, press, and the Internet, our specialists deliver the most complicated medical information to the audiences in an uncomplicated and straightforward language.
  The Center also has its own information outlets, such as the Ob oncologii professionalno (Professionals on oncology) blog, a Facebook page, a VKontakte page, an Odnoklassniki page and a YouTube channel.