Scientific curator — Academician RAS Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Rozhnov
Scientific director — Academician NAS RA Sergey Oganesovich Movsesyan
Head of the Joint Center — Samvel Vladimirovich Sukiasyan
The Joint Russian-Armenian Research and Experimental Center of Zoology and Parasitology was established in the village of Nor Artamet, Nairi District, Armenia (25 km from Yerevan), by Order of the Presidium of the RAS of November 5, 1996, No. 12500-454, and Decision of the Presidium of NAS RA of August 30, 1995, No. 22/1240, with the aim of strengthening joint research and mutually beneficial cooperation between IEE RAS and the Institute of Zoology of NAS RA.
The Center's total area is about 15 hectares, on which six single-story buildings (a laboratory, a vivarium, and a dormitory) and one greenhouse are located.
Work at the Center is carried out under the targeted program of long-term international research projects of the Presidium of RAS. The research results have been published in joint publications (more than 80 works, including three major monographs). The research is carried out by scientists from IEE RAS, the Center for Parasitology of IEE RAS, and the Institute of Zoology of the National Center for Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA.
Publications devoted to the fundamental and applied aspects of parasitology present the results of research on the biodiversity of parasites in various animal species (sheep and their hybrids with mouflon, rabbits, chickens, and others), the identification of transmission pathways of a number of pathogenic helminth species, and the role of invertebrates (mollusks, ants, beetles, and others) as intermediate hosts, in whose bodies parasites develop from larvae to the infective stage, in infecting the definitive, or main, hosts — vertebrate animals.
Научный руководитель Центра обсуждает результаты экспериментов
Research decoding the mechanisms of parasite-host relationships in various animal parasitoses has yielded new data on indicators of host immune status, as well as on the cellular and tissue mechanisms of homeostasis in the helminth-host system (biochemical and histochemical parameters under normal conditions and during infection).
Experiments conducted at the Center are aimed at studying the role of parasite neurotransmitters in shaping parasite-host relationships. Significant research is also being carried out in phytoparasitology.
The research results make it possible to develop a scientific basis for regulating parasite population numbers and thereby to prevent animals from the most widespread and dangerous helminthiases.
In recent years, the Center's research scope has been expanded, and general zoological work has been initiated at the Center, in particular in theriology, ichthyology, and soil zoology.