ALMIRA KUSTUBAYEVA: "NEUROSCIENCE REVEALS THE SECRETS OF CONSCIOUSNESS"

Professor, Head of the Department of Biophysics, Biomedicine and Neuroscience Kustubayeva Almira Melsovna managed to create a Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Today the development of neuroscience opens up new horizons of cognition of the capabilities of the brain and human consciousness.

Almira Kustubayeva dreamed of being a scientist since childhood and did not see herself in another major. Since childhood, she loved mathematics, won Olympiads in the subject. “I listened to the advice of my uncle, a doctor of medical sciences, who once recommended to her study biology, claimimg that there's a lot of work and she would use her mathematical abilities in biology.” As a result, she entered the Faculty of Biology of S.M. Kirov Kazakh State University, choosing the specialization of "Biophysics".

The love of math also found its application when the scientist immersed herself in neuroscience, starting with an internship under a grant from the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for young scientists at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience in Turku (Finland) in 2003. It was a starting point of the idea of creation such center in Kazakhstan. Subsequent scientific internships under grants from JFDP (the USA), TEMPUS (the UK), Fulbright (the USA) and others shaped the scientist's views of the study of brain functions. An important stage was the experience of postdoctoral and scientific work at the Neuroimaging Center at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience of the University of Cincinnati (USA). This allowed Almira Melsovna to become a specialist in the field of brain signal analysis, to master the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging, to conduct research on emotional states and cognitive control in normal and impaired conditions.

"Now I am trying to develop neuroscience in Kazakhstan. My faithful students M. Zholdasova, A. Kamzanova and I managed to create a Center for Cognitive Neuroscience." Understanding the need for specialists who are able to think integratively led to the decision to open a specialty in "Neuroscience" at three levels: bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctoral degree. "When I look at the first students in neuroscience, I am very happy that these are our like-minded people who will continue our work. And it's not for nothing that we work hard, paving the way for them for future brilliant research in neuroscience. I am proud that we have implemented functional magnetic resonance scanning for the first time in Kazakhstan on the basis of the National Center of Neurosurgery under the leadership of Academician Akshulakov Serik Kuandykovich. Now we use this method to map the cognitive functions of the brain in patients with brain tumors. This is the beginning of a new type of research that allows you to penetrate the secrets of the brain."

Almira Kustubayeva's contribution to science was appreciated by the state: she was awarded medals: "For Merits in the Development of Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan", "Eren Enbegi yshin", "The Best University Instructor-2019".

"My main goal is to establish a Brain Institute. There are prerequisites for creating a scientific structure that would be able to attract international funding for brain research from international funds. The public's interest in neuroscience is growing, because everyone is interested in understanding their own and other people's brains, behavior, regulating emotional states, improving abilities and optimizing thinking." Almira Melsovna summed up her story.

Press Service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University