About us

The Department of Medical Biology and Medical Genetics of Kharkiv National Medical University was established in 2026 through the merger of the Department of Medical Biology (founded in 1926) and the Department of Medical Genetics (founded in 2000).

The educational activities of the Department include the training of first-, second-, third-, and fifth-year students of all faculties, as well as postgraduate education, including specialization and continuing professional development courses for physicians of various specialties. Teaching is conducted in Ukrainian and English.

The Department of Medical Biology and Medical Genetics provides education for students enrolled in the following specialties: I2 “Medicine,” I3 “Pediatrics,” I1 “Dentistry,” I5 “Nursing,” I6 “Technologies of Medical Diagnostics and Treatment,” I7 “Therapy and Rehabilitation,” and I9 “Public Health.”

Educational and methodological activities include the preparation and publication of textbooks, study guides, atlases, practical workbooks, and various methodological recommendations for teachers and students. The Department’s faculty have developed an educational information package in Medical Biology and Medical Genetics.

In cooperation with the Department of Infectious Diseases, the Department published the textbook Medical Parasitology with Entomology, approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, as well as the English-language textbook Medical Parasitology: Textbook for Foreign Students of Medical Universities. Educational and methodological materials for students are available in the KhNMU Repository.

The Department actively develops distance learning technologies and has created educational courses in the KhNMU distance learning system based on the Moodle platform.

The research interests of the Department’s staff include population genetics and bioinformatics. Priority research areas include inherited metabolic disorders, mitochondrial diseases, disorders of the folate cycle, as well as modern methods for the diagnosis and three-level prevention of hereditary disorders.

The main areas of research include:

• determining correlations between genotype, phenotypic characteristics, and biochemical parameters in hereditary syndromes;
• diagnosis and development of effective treatment methods for mitochondrial disorders;
• diagnosis and development of rehabilitation approaches for chromosomal and monogenic diseases;
• evaluation of the effectiveness of three-level prevention and screening programs for hereditary disorders;
• studying polymorphic variants of folate-cycle genes in the Ukrainian population with the aim of developing individualized approaches to the correction and prevention of vascular pathology.

Professional Development of Faculty

The Department’s teaching staff continuously improve their professional competencies by completing professional development courses in Ukraine and abroad, undertaking internships, and participating in training programs, seminars, and webinars.

Every year, the Department’s staff participate in organizing the international scientific and methodological conference Modern Concepts of Teaching Natural Sciences in Medical Educational Institutions, which addresses current issues in the natural sciences education of future physicians.

Educational and Mentoring Activities

Educational and mentoring activities at the Department are carried out during practical classes, discussions, and other forms of educational work. They are aimed at increasing students’ learning motivation, ensuring the necessary level of theoretical training of future physicians, facilitating students’ adaptation to higher education, fostering cohesion within student groups, developing teamwork skills, and cultivating a sense of pride in their university.

The main clinical base of the Department is the Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Council Interregional Specialized Medical and Genetic Center – Center for Rare (Orphan) Diseases.

The Department’s activities are carried out within the framework of the State Target Program Provision of Medical Care to Patients with Rare (Orphan) Diseases in Ukraine.

The Department’s staff participate in:

• the development and implementation of national and regional programs, including the program Provision of Medical Care to Patients with Rare (Orphan) Diseases “Children of Slobozhanshchyna”;
• the development and implementation of the Kharkiv Regional Target Program Family Health for 2020–2027;
• the preparation of orders issued by the Department of Health of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, including the Order on the Introduction of a Rare Diseases Registry;
• the preparation of issues for consideration by the session of the Regional Council, including the State Target Program Provision of Medical Care to Patients with Rare Diseases in Ukraine.

Within the framework of the Medical Genetics Association, which includes the Department of Medical Biology and Medical Genetics, the Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Council Interregional Specialized Medical and Genetic Center – Center for Rare (Orphan) Diseases, and the KhNMU Ukrainian Institute of Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine, expanded newborn screening for 21 rare diseases is conducted at the initiative of the President of Ukraine for six regions of Ukraine: Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Cherkasy regions.

L.V. Molodan and O.V. Bugaieva are members of the All-Ukrainian Association of Specialists in Rare (Orphan) Diseases.

L.V. Molodan, O.V. Bugaieva, and V.M. Yelisieiev are members of the NGO All-Ukrainian Association of Specialists in Medical and Laboratory Genetics.

Staff members of the Department of Medical Biology and Medical Genetics participate in international projects. In particular, they teach the discipline “Medical Biology” within the Ukrainian-German project Wildau-Kharkiv ITBridge of the DAAD program Digital Ukraine: Ensuring Academic Success in Crisis (2022).

The Department’s teaching staff regularly participate in internships and training programs in Ukraine and abroad organized by international partners. These include academic internships for educators such as Academic Integrity: Challenges of the Present (Republic of Poland), Medical Education as an Integral Part of the Education System of Ukraine and EU Countries (Republic of Poland), Challenges of Modernization of Medical Education in Ukraine and EU Countries: Scientific and Pedagogical Internship (Republic of Poland), as well as the German-Ukrainian DAAD Autumn School 2021 Biomedical Lessons Learned from Nanotechnology and Artificial Intelligence (Ukraine).

Associate Professors I.P. Meshcheriakova, Yu.O. Sadovnychenko, O.V. Shmulich, and V.Yu. Dzhamieiev, as well as teaching assistants I.K. Kuznietsova and K.A. Kuznetsov, are members of the European Society of Human Genetics (Republic of Austria).

The Department’s faculty publish textbooks and monographs with foreign publishers, including publishers in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Latvia. Research findings of the Department’s academic staff are regularly published in international professional journals indexed in scientometric databases such as Scopus and Web of Science and are presented at international scientific forums.

The Department is involved in the postgraduate education system. Continuing professional development courses are conducted for physicians of various specialties on issues related to congenital and hereditary disorders, including:

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children with Rare Hereditary Diseases;
• Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Mitochondrial Diseases;
• Personalized Approach to Organizing Care for Children with Signs of Inherited Metabolic Disorders;
• Hereditary Diseases in the Practice of General Practitioners and Family Physicians;
• Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Patients with Hereditary Disorders.

Clinical case discussions of complex patients with hereditary disorders are widely used in the educational process, involving a multidisciplinary team of specialists. This approach is highly appreciated by course participants.

Teaching at the Department is based on the principles of clinical proteogenomics, a personalized approach to each patient, and multidisciplinary patient management.

The Department prioritizes the implementation of clinical and biological medical-genetic counseling in the educational process. In their work, the Department’s staff apply an individualized approach to each course participant, taking into account their specialty. Each participant is assigned a Departmental mentor.