Arutun Karapetyan Biologist, doctor, lieutenant colonel of the medical service, doctor of medical sciences, professor. Date of Birth: 02.03.1923 Country: Armenia

Biography of Arutyun Karapetyan

Arutyun Ervandovich Karapetyan was born on March 2, 1923, in a family of civil servants. He attended and graduated from the Khachatur Abovian High School in Yerevan in 1940. In the same year, he enrolled in the Kharkov Aviation Institute. In August 1941, he was conscripted into the Soviet Army and sent to the Military Medical Academy.

In 1943, Karapetyan was transferred to the Naval Medical Academy in Leningrad, which he completed in 1947, obtaining a medical degree. From 1947 to 1965, he served as a military doctor on ships, in units, and in medical and preventive institutions of the Soviet Navy and Army. He served in various locations, including the Kamchatka Military Flotilla, the Baltic Fleet, and the North Caucasus Military District.

During his military service, Karapetyan specialized in microbiology and epidemiology at the Naval Medical Academy in Leningrad from 1951 to 1953. Until 1965, he worked as the head of the parasitology department at a military sanitary and epidemiological station. In 1965, he retired from the Soviet Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and moved to Yerevan.

From 1965 to 1969, Karapetyan served as the head of the immunology department at the Institute of Cardiology in Yerevan. Simultaneously, from 1970 to 1975, he was the Vice-Rector for Research at the Yerevan State Medical Institute. In 1964, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the study of the biology of lamblia using a cultural research method.

Karapetyan's significant contribution to the field of biology lies in his research on lamblia. In 1959, he became the first person in the world to successfully cultivate lamblia cultures, using his original nutrient medium. This breakthrough allowed for further studies on the biology and immunology of lamblia. His research also explored the role of lamblia in hepatobiliary diseases, leading to improved diagnosis and understanding of the parasite's pathogenesis.

Karapetyan's scientific work also extended to virology, where he isolated the tick-borne encephalitis virus from ticks collected in the Estonian SSR in 1961. He conducted studies on influenza infections and vaccine therapy for influenza and epidemic parotitis.

Throughout his career, Karapetyan published over 200 scientific papers, both in his home country and abroad. He supervised more than 20 dissertations, including five doctoral theses. He was an active organizer of scientific research and served in various roles, including membership in Soviet problem commissions and editorial boards.

Karapetyan received numerous honors for his contributions to science, including the Order of the Red Star and 12 medals. He was the chairman of the Armenian Society of Protozoologists and a member of the editorial board of the journal "Medical Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases."

Arutyun Karapetyan was a distinguished biologist, physician, Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service, Doctor of Medical Sciences, and Professor. His groundbreaking research on lamblia cultivation and study of their biology brought him worldwide recognition among protozoologists.