News

An international team, including researchers from HSE University, has created the first comprehensive map of quadruplexes—unstable DNA structures involved in gene regulation. For the first time, scientists have shown that these structures function in pairs: one is located in a DNA region that initiates gene transcription, while the other lies in a nearby region that enhances this process. In healthy tissues, quadruplexes regulate tissue-specific genes, whereas in cancerous tissues they influence genes responsible for cell growth and division. These findings may contribute to the development of new anticancer drugs that target quadruplexes. The study has been published in Nucleic Acids Research.

Valeria Vinogradova, a researcher at HSE University, together with British colleagues, studied how language proficiency affects cognitive processing in deaf adults. The study showed that higher language proficiency—regardless of whether the language is signed or spoken—is associated with higher activity and stronger functional connectivity within the brain network responsible for cognitive task performance. The findings have been published in Cerebral Cortex.

In late January 2026, HSE University hosted a discussion titled ‘Development and Urban Planning: Which Specialists Is the Market Waiting For?’ The event marked the launch of a new Bachelor’s programme in Development and Urban Planning created by the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development in partnership with a consortium of developers, whose key members include MR and A101 Group.

On February 4–5, 2026, the HSE BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre (BRICS Competition Centre), together with the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), held a meeting of the BRICS Working Group for the Research of Competition Issues in Food Markets in Cairo. The antimonopoly authorities agreed to launch a joint analysis of the grain sector to be conducted with the support of the BRICS Competition Centre and based on the centre’s research report. On the sidelines of the event, a cooperation agreement was also signed between the St Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) and the Egyptian Mercantile Exchange.

Michael Appiah, from Ghana, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the International Laboratory of Intangible-Driven Economy (IDLab) at HSE University–Perm. He recently spoke at the seminar ‘Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization, and Climate Vulnerability: Evidence from Heterogeneous Panel Models’ about his research on ‘the interplay between artificial intelligence, digitalisation, and climate vulnerability.’ Michael told the HSE News Service about the academic journey that led him to HSE University, his early impressions of Perm, and how AI can be utilised to combat climate change.

HSE University, the National Research League of Cardiac Genetics, and the Central State Medical Academy of the Administrative Directorate of the President will hold the Second ‘Genetics and the Heart’ Congress with international participation. The event will take place on February 7–8, 2026, at the HSE University Cultural Centre.

Researchers from the HSE Center for Language and Brain took part in brain surgery on a patient who had been seriously wounded in the SMO. A shell fragment approximately five centimetres long entered through the eye socket, penetrated the cranial cavity, and became lodged in the brain, piercing the temporal lobe responsible for language. Surgeons at the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital removed the foreign object while the patient remained conscious. During the operation, neurolinguists conducted language tests to ensure that language function was preserved.

An article by Igor Makarov, Director of the HSE Institute for Economics of Natural Resources and Climate Change, co-authored with Elizaveta Smolovik, Junior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for the Climate Change Economics, has been published in Energy Research & Social Science, one of the leading international journals in the field of energy and social research. The study analyses which countries stand to gain or lose in the context of the global energy transition.

On January 23, 2026, a scientific seminar was held at the International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy (IDLab). During the seminar, laboratory researcher Michael Appiah presented a report on the role of artificial intelligence and digitalization in mitigating climate risks. The study addressed whether modern technologies can help countries adapt to the consequences of climate change.

Gabriella Leelee Enchill is a third-year student at the HSE University Doctoral School of Sociology. She has a bachelor’s in Integrated Community Development from the University for Development Studies in her native Ghana and a master’s in Population and Development from HSE University. Her current research focuses on gender inequality in rural Ghanaian communities. Gabriella spoke to the HSE News Service about what her studies have uncovered about inequality in the region, how women can gain agency by banding together, and why studying these communities helps empower women around the world.