Born on November 5, 1961 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Russia. Graduated in 1985 from the Leningrad State University (Faculty of Physics, Department of The Theory of Nucleus and Elementary Particles). In 1985-1992 worked at the S.I.Vaviov State Optical institute in Leningrad on the theory of radiative transfer in stochastic media (PhD in 1991). The principal affiliation since 1992 - Ioffe Institute in Saint Petersburg. The main field of activity since 1991 - studies of neutron stars and properties of their matter, including: atomic structure and radiative transitions in strong magnetic fields; equation of state and kinetic properties of dense, strongly coupled plasmas (with or without strong magnetic fields); equation of state, transport properties, thermal spectra and thermal evolution of compact stars. Over 200 scientific publications, which have got over eight thousand citations (h=50), and participation in 40+ scientific conferences on neutron star physics, optics, atomic and statistical physics, plasma physics and cosmology. Coauthor (with P. Haensel and D.G. Yakovlev) of the monograph: Neutron Stars 1: Equation of State and Structure (New York: Springer, 2007).