The Department of Physiology of the Kharkiv Medical University was founded in 1805, when Kharkiv University was organized and a united Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Forensic Science was established at its Medical Faculty.

The first head of the joint department was a physiologist and anatomist, Ludwig Yosypovych VANNOTI (1771-1819), a doctor of medicine at the University of Freiburg, who taught courses in these subjects from 1805 to 1811. In 1811, the department was occupied by a talented Russian scientist – professor Ivan Dmitrievich KNlGlN (1773-1830), who taught physiology course until 1829.

From 1829 to 1835 the department was headed by Alexander Sergeevich VENEDIKTOV, a student of I. D. Knigin. From 1835 to 1836 the head of the department was the anatomy lecturer Ivan Fedorovich LEONOV (1809–1854).

In 1836, an independent department of Physiology was separated from the united department at the medical faculty. It was headed by a prominent physiologist, a graduate of Kharkiv University, a student of Professor I.D. Knigin – Ivan Osipovych KALENYCHENKO (1805-1876), who was a versatile scientist with great scientific erudition. He taught a course of physiology with general pathology from 1836 to 1863, and retired after that. Activity of I.O. Kalenychenko at the Medical Faculty was marked by the active development of physiology at Kharkiv University.

The organization of an independent department of physiology took place during the period of intensive development of experimental physiology in the country.

Since 1863, the head of the Department of Physiology was Ivan Petrovich SCHELKOV (b. 1833-1905), a student of I.O. Kalenichenko. The first steps of professor I.P. Schelkov coincided with the introduction of the new University Statute of 1863, according to which physiology and general pathology were recognized as independent disciplines. Thus, a separate department was established for each of them, and a separate professor was approved. The appearance of the Statute of 1863, approved by Emperor Alexander II on June 18, 1863, led to the separation of physiology from general pathology and the recognition of physiology as one of the main subjects of the medical course. At the same time, the organization of a physiological office with further reorganization into a physiological laboratory started.

Since 1863, the physiological laboratory has been significantly enriched with different equipment. Lectures on physiology were accompanied by lecture demonstrations and experiments on animals, arousing among students a thirst for knowledge and interest in science. Being a highly educated and thoughtful lecturer, I.P. Shchelkov for the first time widely introduced systematic laboratory classes in the course of physiology. Gifted with outstanding mental abilities, armed with modern scientific knowledge, he raised the teaching of physiology to a new level, brought a fresh stream of European science. The scientific heritage of I.P. Shchelkov and his school was a powerful stimulus for the further development of promising areas in the field of physiology and biochemistry.

I.P. Shchelkov’s successor was his outstanding student, Professor Vasyl Yakovlevich DANILEVSKY (1852-1939), a pupil of Kazan and Kharkiv universities, a well-educated, talented physiologist, whose diverse activities are known not only in our country, but also abroad.

V.Ya. Danilevsky was replaced by the head of the Department of Physiology, Associate Professor of the Department of Physiology O.M. Cherevkov, who headed the department until 1917. During this period, scientific activity at the department almost stopped, and teaching was conducted formally.

In 1926, one of the famous students of I.P. Pavlov, Georgy Vladimirovich FOLBORT (1882-1960) was elected as the head of Physiology department. He transferred to Ukraine the physiological teachings of I.P. Pavlov.

Academician G.V. Folbort headed the Department of Physiology of Kharkiv Medical Institute from 1926 to 1946, then headed the Department of Physiology of Kyiv Medical Institute and the Department of Physiology of the Institute of Biochemistry of the URSR Academy of Sciences.

Scientific teaching of physiology expanded with the arrival of Academician G.V. Folbort. Large lecture demonstrations and research on chronically operated animals began to be widely used in it, thanks to which the clarity of teaching increased sharply. All the richness of Pavlov’s research methods became available to students.

From 1946 to 1966, the Department of Physiology was headed by a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, honored scientist, doctor of biological sciences, professor Elizaveta Konstantinovna PRIKHODKOVA (1892-1975).

Under the leadership of E.K. Prikhodkova staff of the department focused the research on the development of problems of neurosis, regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure, closely related to the urgent task of practical health care – the fight against hypertension and atherosclerosis.

From March 1966 to August 1967 the Department of Physiology was headed by a student of E.K. Prykhodkova, doctor of medical sciences, professor Larysa Dmytrivna KHALEYEVA (born in 1929).

For 30 years (from 1967 to 1997) the Department of Physiology of Kharkiv State Medical University was headed by Professor Fedor Petrovich VEDYAEV (1928 – 2000) –Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Laureate of the P.K. Anokhin Prize.

Since 1997 to 2014 The Department of Physiology was headed by a student of Professor F.P. Vedyaev, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Valery Gavrilovich Samokhvalov, who continued and developed the scientific direction of his teacher. V.G. Samokhvalov (22.01.1950) is the Doctor of Medical Sciences (1994), Professor, Member of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), Academician of the New York Academy of Sciences, Member of the Specialized Council of KSMU, Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Physiological Society, author of more than 150 scientific papers, 20 of which have been published in foreign publications. Research of professor V.G. Samokhvalov were devoted to the study of mechanisms of resistance to emotional stress under the influence of harmful environmental factors.

Since February 2015, the Acting Head of the Department is associate professor of physiology Larysa Volodymyrivna Chernobay.