ISTC E-NEWSLETTER
January-April 2009 - Issue 004



Guest Columnist

Research on Probiotics:
A Well of Untapped Resources in Russia

By Gregor Reid, President of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics

During a visit I made to Moscow several years ago, I was very impressed by the potential in the field of probiotocs and I believed that important discoveries of relevance to Russian industry and agriculture could be made. Since then I’ve collaborated on 3 ISTC projects, the latest of which, “Probiotics for Functional Foods”, was funded at the March 2009 Governing Board Meeting. I also deeply support the new ISTC Targeted Initiative on Probiotics as it reflects the strong and growing interest throughout the world to improve health and cure various diseases using live bacteria. More...




US Congressional Report on Global Security Presented at ISTC





On 25 March 2009, Anne Harrington, Director of the US Committee on International Security and Arms Control and Professor of History of Science at Harvard University, presented the Report Global Security Engagement: A New Model for Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) at the ISTC Headquarters. The audience included senior representatives and science attaches from most of the international embassies based in Moscow. The Report, ordered by the US Congress, provides recommendations on the future of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs that were created from the late 80s through the 90s to address problems related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The report stresses the need to “expand to other regions and fundamentally redesign CTR programs as an active tool of foreign policy that can address contemporary threats from groups that are agile, networked, and adaptable.” ISTC's role in managing CTR programs in Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States provided a backdrop to key elements of the Report, with ISTC Chairman, Dr. Ronald Lehman II, instrumental in the creation of the Report itself. More…


ISTC Makes Probiotics a Priority Area of Research
In the last 10 years, research on Probiotics has been growing exponentially throughout the world and billions of dollars have been invested in R&D mainly by the food industry and pharmaceutical companies. More…



ISTC and CERN Partner on 2 New Projects Worth $2,4 Million
Two new ISTC projects worth 2,4 million USD are being launched to upgrade the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) injector. The LHC at CERN is the largest scientific instrument ever built.More…








Partner News
Armenian Scientists Demonstrate Production of Optical Crystal Sapphire
A team of Armenian scientists presented the results of Innovation Initiative #101 during the ISTC Governing Board meeting held in March. The representatives of the governments funding the ISTC were impressed by the demonstration of the sapphire crystal production that can be used in various optical devices and commercial laser equipment.More…




Projects
New Vacuum Chamber for Testing of Space Materials
Advancement in space technologies require modeling and testing of materials and devices in an environment similar to the one found in space. A team of scientists from the ISTC Project A-1229 from the Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI) built a new experimental facility – the Space Imitator Installation (vacuum chamber) - for the simulation of various elements of space environment. More…





Events
EU and Russian Scientists Discuss Novel Treatment for Cancer
As a result of the “EU-Russia Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)” workshop, an international task force was proposed in order to improve global cooperation and coordination of the work in this field of science. More...