Alexander “Sasha” Kagansky dead: Russian scientist dies

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Alexander Sasha Kagansky Dead

Global Young Academy

Alexander “Sasha” Kagansky

Alexander “Sasha” Kagansky was a prominent Russian scientist working on a COVID-19 vaccine when he was found dead with a stab wound. The New York Post reported that his body was found on the street outside his bedroom window in Russia.

Kagansky, 45, was an assistant professor in Vladivostok, according to his online profile. He had worked in Edinburgh, Scotland for 13 years, ending in 2017. He was most recently director of the Center for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine at the Russian Federal University of the Far East.

Here’s What You Need to Know:

Russian police are investigating Kagansky’s death as a possible murder and are questioning a person of interest

Russian police are questioning a 45-year-old man as a possible suspect in Kagansky’s death. His death is being investigated as a possible murder, The New York Post reported. Police believe there may have been a scuffle before Kagansky fell out of his bedroom window.

An unknown source told e2news.com that a 45-year-old biologist had visited a friend in the building.

According to the Jewish press, a neighbor found Kagansky’s body wearing only underwear. Kagansky lived in a 16-storey building in the Kalininsky district of Saint Petersburg. His body was found on Zamshin Street. Police heard he fell out of the 14th floor window the day before.

Kagansky’s research has focused on understanding disease at the molecular level

Kagansky was director of a Center for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine, School of Biomedicine at the Far East Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia, according to his profile on the Global Young Academy website. His research focused on understanding disease at the molecular level and cancer research. His work has been described as ‘crucial to the future of molecular medicine’.

His profile says:

Alexander (Sasha) Kagansky is Director of a Center for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine, School of Biomedicine at the Far East Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. The research at its center is aimed at understanding the molecular basis of the fate of cells in normal cells and disease, discovering drugs and finding ways to cure cancer and regenerate tissues, which will be crucial for the future of molecular medicine. In his study he combines genetics, synthetic biology, biochemistry and proteomics. Prior to that, he was Chancelor’s Fellow at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, and led research at the Synthetic Epigenetics Lab. In 2005 – 2012 Sasha worked at the Wellcome Trust Center for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, as a postdoctoral research associate (Robin Allshire lab, until 2010) and then as a senior research associate (Bill Earnshaw lab). He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in 2004 after spending 3 years at the National Institutes of Health in the US. In 1998 he received his MS in Biophysics from St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University in Russia. Apart from the lab research, Sasha Kagansky regularly organizes public engagement of scientific activities for different target groups: artists, primary school children and general public, in different parts of the world, resulting in new collaborations between scientists and artists. In 1991 he was the first Russian delegate to the European Youth Parliament. He is also a member of the Young Academy of Scotland.

Gio Rodriguez Blanco, a scientist in Edinburgh, Scotland, wrote a tribute to Kagansky, according to his Twitter profile.

“RIP Alexander ‘Sasha’ Kagansky,” he wrote on Twitter. ‘A different mind, a unique scientist. Grateful forever! “

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