Headed by Olga S. Prokopyuk
Prof., Doctor of Biological Sciences, Chief Researcher,
Deputy Director for Scientific Work

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Department was established in 1990 under the name “biochemistry of cold adaptation” on the basis of the same name laboratory.
>> learn more about history  

From the beginning of its foundation until 2021, the Department was headed by Doctor of Biological Sciences, Honored of Scientist and Technology Worker of Ukraine, Prof.  Oleksandr K. Gulevsky, a student of the outstanding scientist and one of the founders of national cryobiology, corresponding member of the NAS of Ukraine Apollon M. Bilous. During this time, 13 dissertations for the degree of Candidate of Sciences have been completed and successfully defended. At least 400  papers have been published in Ukraine and abroad, 18 patents have been issued. From 2021 to the present, the Department has been headed by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Prof. Olga S. Prokopyuk. Bachelors and masters of Kharkiv specialized higher educational institutions complete their diploma theses at our Department. Former graduate students of the Department currently work in laboratories of scientific institutions in the USA (Olena S. Abakumova) and Germany (Olena G. Pogozhykh).

RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

• Study of the processes underlying the development of adaptive responses of the body when  cooling
• Clarification of the mechanisms of influence of cold stress and synthetic neuropeptides of opioid action (analogues of peptides, affecting the adaptation of cold-resistant animals to the effects of low temperatures) on functional state of cells in monolayer and three-dimensional cultivation and blood cells  in vivo
• Development and improvement of cryogenic technologies for maximum release and storage of biological activity of components from cord blood, placenta and medicinal plants to develop medicines based on them.
• Study of the mechanism of impact of low temperatures on quantitative and qualitative composition of biologically active substances derived from natural raw materials of plant and animal origins
• Investigation of cryobiological and cryomedical aspects of biotechnology, biosafety, creation of reserves of cryopreserved biomaterial for preservation of the gene pool, development of reproductive and regenerative medicine.
• Investigation of geroprotective and gerotherapeutic effects of placental biological objects subjected to cryopreservation.
• Development and improvement of methods for obtaining, cryopreservation and creation of a collection of placental cells
• Determination of the features of the functioning and mechanisms of action of placental cells in in vitro and in vivo systems on the course of simulated pathological processes of the female reproductive system.
• Improvement of existing methods of treating pathologies of the female reproductive sphere with placental origin preparations
• Study of the consequences of explosive contusion injury combined with hypothermia of the body, the use of frozen-dried  cord blood serum with determination of its composition and effect on the activity and mutual influence of energy and plastic exchanges in  victims