On February 5, in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Skoltech graduate, who now heads the Skoltech Laboratory of Metagenome Analysis, Artem Isaev the Russian Presidential Prize in Science and Innovation for Young Scientists.

Speaking about the work of the Skoltech scientist, Vladimir Putin noted:

"Artem Borisovich Isaev is searching for an answer to one of the main challenges of modern medicine. He is studying ways to combat bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics. To this end, he is researching those viruses that are natural enemies of pathogenic bacteria, destroying and suppressing them. This is not just an alternative but a fundamentally different approach. And it is gratifying that here Russia is one of the leaders. Worldwide, work is underway in this direction, and I repeat, it is gratifying that we are not just keeping up but are also one of the leaders. But we need to take the next step — to learn how to create broad-spectrum medicines based on the obtained scientific foundation. The work of Artem Borisovich is precisely bringing this moment closer."

After receiving the award from the hands of the president, Artem Isaev addressed the audience in the hall from the podium:

"For me, it is a great honor to become a laureate of this prize. It is extremely gratifying that the research of our Laboratory of Metagenome Analysis has received such high recognition. It is important to note that this is not only my merit but the merit of a large team: research associates, students, and graduate students. Some of them are in this hall today. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Svetlana Belukhina, Alena Drobiazko, Oksana Kotovskaya, and Mikhail Skutel. I want to thank Skoltech and Rector Alexander Petrovich Kuleshov. I myself am a Skoltech graduate and have gone from being a master's student to head of a laboratory, and Alexander Petrovich provides us with invaluable support. I would like to separately acknowledge the role of Konstantin Viktorovich Severinov. One could say that Konstantin is my teacher and mentor in science. It was he who inspired me to conduct research in the field of bacterial immune systems.

In conclusion, I would like to note that solving such a global and important problem as overcoming the crisis of antibiotic resistance among bacterial infections requires a deep understanding of the biology of both bacteria and the viruses that infect them — bacteriophages — and requires conducting fundamental research. Therefore, I sincerely hope that young scientists in Russia will continue to have and will see ever new opportunities to carry out both applied and fundamental work in this important field of science."