History of the Department of intestinal Pathology
Asfold Ivanovich Parfenov was born on August 3, 1936 in the village of Pasha, Leningrad region, in a family of employees. In 1955 A.I. Parfenov entered the Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov in Leningrad, which he graduated in 1961. From 1961 to 1970 he served as a doctor in units and hospitals of the Navy in Kamchatka in the village of Rybachy. While in military service, Asfold Ivanovich began collecting materials for his future PhD thesis "Morphological changes in the mucous membrane of the stomach and colon in patients with chronic gastritis of young age" and successfully defended it in 1968. In 1971, after completing naval service, he was transferred to the ground forces and worked as a senior resident until 1981, and then the head of the gastroenterological department of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N.N. Burdenko" in Moscow. From 1981 to 1986 he combined his activities with pedagogical work as a senior lecturer at the Department of Therapy of the Military Medical Faculty at the Central Order of Lenin Institute of Advanced Medical Training. Working in the gastroenterology department under the guidance of leading military clinicians of the hospital (M.I. Teodori, A.A. Zhgun, A.I. Khazanov) and scientific consultants (academicians F.I. Komarov, E.V. Gembitsky and A.M. Ugolev), A.I. Parfenov continued to deal with theoretical and clinical problems of gastroenterology, began to deeply investigate intestinal diseases and the pathophysiology of malabsorption. He considered Academician A.M. Ugolev to be one of the great physiologists of his time and one of his main teachers.
In 1984, under his leadership, A.I. Parfenov defended his doctoral dissertation "Violation of intestinal digestion and absorption in the most common diseases of the digestive system." In his work, he was the first to propose new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of intestinal digestion and absorption disorders based on small intestine perfusion with polysubstrate solutions. In 1986, after being discharged from the Armed Forces with the rank of colonel of the medical service, Asfold Ivanovich was invited to work at the Central Research Institute of Gastroenterology as head of the Department of Pathology of the Small Intestine (later the Department of Intestinal Pathology), which he headed until the last day. All further long-term activity of A.I. Parfenov was inextricably linked with the development of Russian enterology. Together with his students, he managed to significantly expand the scientific and clinical understanding of intestinal diseases.
Modern ideas about adult celiac disease are associated with the name of A.I. Parfenov, its classification and modern diagnostic methods are proposed. A.I. Parfenov and his students initiated the doctrine of postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome and similar disorders. A.I. Parfenov and his students made a significant contribution to enterology by describing chronic yersiniosis ileitis, cholologenic diarrhea as a manifestation of postcholecystectomy syndrome, involutive maldigestion. With his direct participation, a new and unique method of treating Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis using mesenchymal stromal cells was introduced.
In the last years of his life, Asfold Ivanovich was actively engaged in the study of enteropathies with impaired membrane digestion. A.I. Parfenov actively introduced all advanced scientific developments into real clinical practice. He is the author of more than 650 scientific works, including seven monographs – "Intestinal diseases", "Enterology", "Diseases of the ileocecal region", "Celiac disease: a modern view of the problem", "Cell technologies and biological therapy of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases", "Enteropathy with impaired membrane digestion", "Essays on clinical enterology", co-author of numerous textbooks and guidelines, holder of 26 patents for inventions. A.I. Parfenov defended 6 doctoral and 13 candidate theses. Together with the students A.I. Parfenov managed to create a unique scientific school of Russian enterology. All his students, specialists of the highest level, continue to be actively engaged in clinical and scientific activities. A.I. Parfenov was twice awarded the Moscow Mayor's Award in the field of medicine for achievements in the field of gastroenterology. A.I. Parfenov was awarded the honorary title "Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation" by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 22, 2004 for his services in protecting public health and providing medical and preventive care. For many years he was a member of the editorial board, and since 2011 – deputy editor-in-chief of the journal "Therapeutic Archive".
On June 10, 2025, Russian medicine suffered an irreparable loss – Asfold Ivanovich Parfenov died at the age of 89. He will remain in the memory of his colleagues, friends and patients not only as a talented doctor and scientist with indisputable professional authority, but also as an excellent teacher, an intelligent, highly erudite person with unique personal qualities, a connoisseur of classical music and fiction. The whole era of Russian medicine, Russian gastroenterology is gone ... Eternal memory to you, dear Asfold Ivanovich!
