Igor Nabiev has been in physics and biological sciences for almost 40 years. He is one of the world leaders in nano-biotechnological researches.
In the early 1980s Nabiev was the first Russian researcher to develop, in collaboration with research groups headed by Therese Cotton (United States) and Eckhard Koglin (Germany), biological applications of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), an ultrasensitive analytical method. Nabiev's research in SERS biospectroscopy attracted much attention of the scientific community and won him a number of prestigious scientific prizes. Nabiev was invited as a visiting professor to Georgia Technological Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, United States (1989); Pittsburgh University, Pittsburgh, United States (1990); and the University of Reims Champagne Ardenne (Universite de Reims Champagne Ardenne), France (1991-1994).
In 1994 Nabiev accepted full professorship in the University of Reims Champagne Ardenne, France, where he is now directing nano-biotechnological developments in the Laboratory for Research in Nanoscience (Laboratorie de Recherche en Nanosciences, LRN-EA4682).
Since 2000, Prof. Nabiev has been developing the methods for synthesis semiconductor nanocrystals, functional modification of their surface, and their biomedical applications as fluorescent tags for ultrasensitive detection and biomedical diagnosis. He was the first European researcher to patent diagnostic systems based on nanocrystals conjugated with recognizing molecules.
At present, Prof. Nabiev coordinates a number of national (French and Russian) and international (European Union) research programs on the development of ultrasensitive nano-biotechnological detection systems using solid-state and liquid-phase chips. He also supervises basic research and applied developments in nanosafety and nanomedicine. Prof. Nabiev is the director of European Technological Platform "Semiconductor Nanocrystals" in the framework of the NAMDIATREAM project (the Institute of Molecular Medicine of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland).
In 2008-2009 Prof. Nabiev received the Walton Award, a prestigious scientific prize of the Science Foundation of Ireland, for his research and developments in nano-biotechnology.