Over the past years more women have been significantly contributing to the advancement of Belarusian scholarly knowledge.
According to the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus data for 2024, the number of women reaches almost 40% of the totality of Belarusian researches whereas it exceeds 64% in the sphere of medicine which makes it the highest figure among the branches of science.
The history of Belarusian medical science presents a lot of examples of notable women whose achievements have opened up new horizons in our health care and great opportunities for the future generations of researchers. Here are some of these women.
- Varvara Kashavarava-Rudnieva. It was her who paved the way for women into medicine. Born in Belarus, Varvara became the first woman in the Russian Empire to defend a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Her numerous academic papers on obstetrics and gynecology were well-known in Russia and abroad.
- Katsiaryna Vishniewskaja. The only existing method of endocavitary gamma therapy in the USSR which fully resolved the problem of radiation safety in oncogynecology; the world’s first method of combination treatment of cervical and endometrial cancer which allowed to avoid disease recurrence; more than 430 still relevant academic papers – these are just a small part of the accomplishments of the Doctor of Medicine, professor, founder of oncogynecology school and a Catherine the Great of Belarusian oncogynecology, as Katsiaryna’s contemporaries called her.
Find out more about Katsiaryna Vishniewskaja’s contribution to scholarship in our virtual exhibition.
- Tatsiana Birych. A professor, National Academy of Sciences of BSSR corresponding member and a distinguished academic – she was the first in Belarus to master and apply a cryosurgery method for eye disorders and tissue grafting methods in ophthalmology. The founder of Belarusian school of ophthalmology dedicated more than 250 scholarly works to the eye diseases issues.
- Tamara Birych. Not only did she follow in her mother’s footsteps and continued the line of medical workers but also achieved great success herself. The professor mastered and devised new technologies in the operative surgeries of glaucoma, eye optical system disorders, retina, anterior chamber of the eye reconstruction, implemented innovative methods of retinal detachment treatment and she was the first in the country to apply intraocular lens implantation and curative and optical keratoplasty.
- Bierta Sosina-Izraitsiel. She made an invaluable contribution into the development of X-ray radiography of our country as a distinguished academic and is rightfully considered to be a pioneer of radionofunctional diagnostic techniques. The professor worked most actively on the issue of X-ray diagnostics of the functional states of the circulatory and digestive organs in normal and pathological conditions, and also became one of the first in the USSR to use heart X-ray radiokymography.
- Hniesya Dazortsava. You can’t imagine Belarusian sphere of obstetrics and gynecology without her. It was Hniesya who became the organiser and the first head of the Belarusian Scientific Research Institute of Motherhood and Infancy Protection (the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre “Mother and Child”). The Doctor of Medicine dedicated more than 100 academic papers to the issues of female genital tract protection and diagnostics in gynecology and hormone therapy.
- Aliena Kholadava. A distinguished academic of the Republic of Belarus, Doctor of Medicine and a professor – she gave start to a new stage in the development of modern Belarusian endocrinology. Aliena was the author of more than 300 academic papers, the initiator of the development of training programs for clinical endocrinology, a model for organizing the “doctor-nurse-patient” three-stage training on the basics of diabetology (she was recognized as the best in the CIS countries), a national program for the prevention of diabetes mellitus, which determined the development of domestic diabetology for many years.
We congratulate all those who contribute to the development of Belarusian and world science on their professional holiday! May your inspiration and innovative ideas never dry up. We wish you further creative success, new discoveries and the implementation of your goals!