[en] A scientific session of the General meeting of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) was held in the conference hall of the Lebedev Physical Institute, RAS on 7 December 2015. The papers collected in this issue were written based on talks given at the session (the program of the session is available on the RAS Physical Sciences Division website http://www.gpad.ac.ru). (1) Loshchenov V B (Prokhorov General Physics Institute, RAS, Moscow) 'Pharmacodynamics of a nanophotosensitizer under irradiation by an electromagnetic field: from THz to Cherenkov radiation'; (2) Zhuikov B L (Institute for Nuclear Research, RAS, Moscow) 'Successes and problems in the development of medical radioisotope production in Russia'; (3) Tikhonov Yu A (Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk) 'Applying nuclear physics methods in healthcare'; (4) Turchin I V (Institute of Applied Physics, RAS, Nizhny Novgorod) 'Methods of biomedical optical imaging: from subcellular structures to tissues and organs'; (5) Breus T K, Petrukovich A A (Space Research Institute, RAS, Moscow), Binhi V N (Prokhorov General Physics Institute, RAS, Moscow; Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow) 'Magnetic factor in solar-terrestrial relations and its impact on the human body: physical problems and prospects for research'; (6) Makarov D I (Special Astrophysical Observatory, RAS, Nizhnii Arkhyz, Zelenchukskii region, Karachai-Cherkessian Republic) 'Studying the Local University'. Papers based on oral reports 2, 4, and 5 are presented below. • Successes and problems in the development of medical radioisotope production in Russia, B L Zhuikov Physics-Uspekhi , 2016, Volume 59, Number 5, Pages 481–486 • Methods of biomedical optical imaging: from subcellular structures to tissues and organs, I V Turchin Physics-Uspekhi , 2016, Volume 59, Number 5, Pages 487–501 • Magnetic factor in solar-terrestrial relations and its impact on the human body: physical problems and prospects for research, T K Breus, V N Binhi, A A Petrukovich Physics-Uspekhi , 2016, Volume 59, Number 5, Pages 502–510 (conferences and symposia)