X-Message-Number: 14315 Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 03:08:27 -0400 From: Paul Wakfer <> Subject: Re: CryoNet #14307 - credit to Pichugin References: <> > Message #14307 > From: > Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 18:58:39 EDT > Subject: credit to Pichugin > > In all the euphoria about recent research results involving the INC, 21CM > etc., there has (as far as I have noticed) been very little public > acknowledgement of the role of Yuri Pichugin, I especially pride myself on a passion for justice and seeing that both credit and censure are fairly given. For reference here are the things that I have recently written about Yuri on CryoNet. Anything else said about him was facts regarding his visa situation or how 21CM regards him, about which I have no control. In CryoNet #14270, I wrote: However, the research had been going so badly and so slowly (mainly due to communication problems between Greg Fahy and Yuri Pichugin mostly caused by the distance between 21CM and REI and the language/cultural/scientific style barriers) that I was not convinced that it would be a good use of the INC donor's money to continue the project (although I had no other plans for it), and Greg himself was not convinced of this. [snip] [In January 2000] the project (and Yuri) finally got on the right track and began suddenly to do credible and positive work. The sound science that began then has continued up to the present and there is now little chance of its reverting to its former chaotic, inept state. [snip] It is because of this now very positive atmosphere that I felt, in good conscience, to be fully able to attempt more fund raising for the project and was personally willing to put in the effort. And in Cryonet #14304, I stated: 1) Yuri is now efficiently doing such valuable work under Greg's guidance that he may run out of useful things to do, with the limited equipment available at his location, before the end of the year or before his new visa status comes through. If this happens then INC will need additional funds to purchase the additional equipment necessary to keep Yuri gainfully occupied. > who did much of the > experimental work (and some of the theoretical work) that led to the > optimistic pronouncements on brain cryopreservation at Alcor's Asilomar > conference. That is a fair description of Pichugin's contribution, but that contribution was only to part of the "pronouncements". Only a portion of Greg's talk and none of Brian Wowk's talk were related to Yuri's work. > For various reasons, certain people involved don't want direct attribution or > direct quotations, but from highly placed or/and well informed sources I have > been given to understand the following, summarized and paraphrased: > > Dr. Pichugin was the only cryobiologist that could be > found--world-wide!--qualified and willing to work on the hippocampal slice > project. (This is old news, of course.) > > The brain slice program is virtually indispensable for the larger whole-brain > cryopreservation research. > > Dr. Pichugin created or mastered the experimental techniques after others had > repeatedly tried and failed over a period of years. His skills may be unique > and irreplaceable in the time frame of the next year or two at least. I am not sure where this came from (see exact text below). > He developed data showing that a temperature different from that previously > used at Alcor for cryoprotectants, including glycerol, is preferable, and > that led to improved results reported in the recent suspension of F.M. > Esfandiary by Alcor. For comparison, here is some of the *exact text* from the "highly placed or/and well informed sources" -------------------------------------------------------------- So the problem is simply that [21CM] is not funding the slice project, has no intention of funding the slice project, and has no intention of supporting Yuri long enough for a trial period to be completed, while in the meantime there is no guarantee that Yuri's funding will last long enough for his trial period to be completed. The funding to support Yuri MUST come from sources other than [21CM]. If Yuri falls one week short of having the kind of work experience documentation [needed] to convince [21CM] to hire him, he will likely go back to the Ukraine, probably with vanishingly small prospects of returning. What this means ... is that ... lose the ability to maintain a brain slice program at 21st Century Medicine. This would be a great loss, because ... necessary ... to have whole organ and organ slice work moving along in parallel to give each other necessary insight. But Yuri, who spent months mastering this technique, is the only one on the horizon who can give ... this extra dimension. ... it would be a substantial loss to lose this future wing of ... a major brain cryopreservation effort starting in a few months. [snip] the results of the slice project have ALREADY been used to benefit Alcor patients. It was only Yuri's data showing that 10oC exposure was better than zero degree C exposure to cryoprotectants that gave ... justification to achieve the kind of glycerol concentrations ... achieved for FM2030. Yuri's data were at the forefront of ... thinking during FM2030's suspension. ... cut off the ramp as soon as ... could no longer maintain perfusion at 10oC or below. This number was not accidental, it came directly out of the work at REI. Furthermore, although ... not use the new CPA formulae on FM2030, Alcor is now gearing up to use these formulae on future patients. The reason ... is, in part, the observations made at REI that the new CPAs work ... for rat hippocampi, being substantially more permeating and less intrinsically toxic than glycerol. This is invaluable information that could not possibly have been obtained any other way. ... now trying to push this forward with even better solutions, and ... finding complications in doing so that could never be known without this model. [snip] goal of Paul's appeal is ... give Yuri a chance to continue to contribute to brain cryopreservation research permanently. ... to bridge Yuri from REI to 21CM ... lead to a comparatively vast payoff in terms of the total work output of Yuri Pichugin over the course of the rest of his life, working in the most ideal environment in the world for the kind of work [he] wants to do. ------------------------------------------------------------ I will not address the relevance, veracity or importance of the rest of Bob's post, some of which has been discussed on CryoNet before. Yuri Pichugin has shown himself to be a highly dedicated and competent experimentalist on the work being done on the HSCP, which project was conceived, designed, monitored, and overseen by Greg Fahy, and used CPA's and initial viability assays provided by 21CM. All involved deserve considerable credit and will continue to do so as the project proceeds. Paul Wakfer Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14315