Professor Mykhailo Lebedyuk on the history of one of the oldest departments of ONMedU and modern methods of treatment in dermatology and venereology

We continue the series of articles dedicated to the 120th anniversary of Odessa National Medical University and today Dr. of Med., Ph.D., Professor, Head of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology Mykhailo Mykolaiovych Lebedyuk will tell us about the achievements and plans of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology.

• Your department is one of the oldest at Odessa Medical University. Well-known scientists worked here. Tell us briefly about some of them.

In 2020, our department turned 116 years old, it was organized at Novorossiysk University on May 29, 1904, on the basis of the Old City Hospital.

The first head of the department was Professor V.I. Zarubin, author of more than 30 scientific papers. Valentyn Ivanovych specialized in dermatology and venereal diseases in the clinics of France and Austria with great scientists (Professors M. Caposi, A. Fournier, A. Neisser, J. Yadason). To organize the educational and pedagogical process, Professor Zarubin worked actively to provide the department with the specialized literature.

From 1908 to 1928 the department was headed by Professor S.S.Yakovlev, author of more than 30 scientific papers. In 1927, Serhei Serheiovych contributed to the opening of the city dermatological and venereological dispensary. The educational process took place in classrooms, wards, treatment rooms and laboratories. The main scientific direction was to study the peculiarities of syphilis, casuistry and therapy of some skin diseases. For more than 20 years, Professor S.S. Yakovlev was the chairman of Odessa Dermatological Society.

From 1929 to 1951 the department was headed by Professor I.A. Matusis, who graduated from the University of Berlin. With his assistance, the department organized biochemical, pathophysiological and bacteriological laboratories, as well as a vivarium, which significantly affected the level of educational and pedagogical process and improved research. I.A. Matusis owns about 100 scientific papers, mostly on dermatoses in metabolic disorders.

From 1959 to 1973 the department was headed by Professor M.V. Borzov, author of 57 scientific papers, including 4 monographs. The main scientific direction of the department at that time was the study of pathogenesis, clinic, diagnosis and treatment of pyoderma, as well as features of syphilis treatment. From 1973 to 2002 the department was headed by Professor G.I. Lobanovsky, author of more than 300 scientific papers and two textbooks in English and French. New methods of diagnostics, therapy and sanatorium treatment of patients with the most common chronic dermatoses were actively introduced; the search for more effective methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases was conducted.

• You have been heading the department since 2003. How has it changed over the years? What achievements could you mention?

First of all, the staff of the department has expanded: in 2002 there were only 10 employees, including 1 doctor of medical sciences, one professor and 9 candidates of medical sciences (4 associate professors and 5 assistants).

Currently, the department has 15 employees, all with academic degrees, including 6 doctors of medical sciences, including 2 associate professors and 4 professors (two of them – graduates of the competition “Scientific and educational potential of Ukraine”, one – winner of the NAS and AMS awards); among the 9 candidates of medical sciences there are 6 associate professors and 3 assistants with extensive experience in scientific, pedagogical and medical work.

The employees of the department participated in research work on the basis of cooperation agreements with such organizations as the Ukrainian Research Institute of Dermatology and Venereology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukrainian Anti-Plague Research Institute named after I.I. Mechnikov in Odessa (Sentinel epidemiological surveillance of HIV infection among patients with STDs); Physico-Chemical Institute named after O.V. Bogatsky of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Odessa (Selection of nucleotropic chemotherapeutic antiviral drugs by PCR as a screening model), SE “International Center for Electron Beam Technologies” of the Institute of Electric Welding named after Ye. O. Paton of the NAS of Ukraine in Kyiv (Development of modern wound dressings and dressings for bleeding, prevention and treatment of microbial lesions using nanotechnology), Odessa Research Institute of Dentistry, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Application of new prebiotics and probiotics in dermatovenereology) .

Among the achievements of the staff of the department and the dispensary can be noted the development and application of new diagnostic complex methods of therapy using hardware technologies introduced into the work of the department and OOSHVD TMR can be noted. First of all, it is the use of digital dermatoscopy, molecular genetic and pathomorphological research methods, biological therapy (use of TNFα-inhibitors and inhibitors of monoclonal antibodies c20), photodynamic therapy, laser therapy, oxygen therapy of chronic dermatoses1 with the use of Z-oxygen membrane.

For the first time in the country, the staff of the department developed a method of polymerase chain reaction as a screening model of primary selection of nucleotropic chemotherapeutic antiviral drugs.

In addition, the department is the clinical base of the Pharmacological Committee of Ukraine for new drugs testing. Employees of the department are working on the publication of two specialized scientific medical journals, which already have international indices of scientific citation (CORE, CrossRef, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE), Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, ResearchBib, WorldCat), and an intensive work on introduction them to Scopus and Web of Science bases is underway.

• What is the main scientific direction of the department?

At this stage, the main research area of ​​the department is the development and implementation of new methods for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of common skin diseases and sexually transmitted diseases, based on integration studies on the relationship of skin lesions and visible mucous membranes with functional disorders of the body’s regulatory systems.

Our clinical base is NCP “Odessa Regional Dermatological and Venereological Dispensary of Odessa Regional Council”, which has specialized departments for hospitalization of patients with skin diseases and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as modern laboratories for the diagnosis of contagious and non-contagious dermatoses, sexually transmitted diseases. Employees of the department, students, doctors-interns and doctors-cadets of FPO have an opportunity to supervise patients every day, to participate in various types of laboratory tests and practical manipulations.

• Are there student achievements that could be singled out?

More than 20 students of the student scientific society work very actively at the department. They publish their works together with professors-supervisors in scientific journals, including international ones, and make reports at international conferences of students and young scientists. It should be noted that the research areas developed by students in further research are often the basis of scientific data for planning dissertations.

And later a group of interns at our department is formed from the student scientific society.

• You are the author and co-author of many scientific papers and three textbooks. Tell us more about them.

The scientific works present materials on the study of clinical and epidemiological features of chronic dermatoses and mixed urogenital infections, the development of new approaches in the methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Data on the development of a system of preventive and anti-epidemic measures based on the monitoring of HIV / AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases in the southern region of Ukraine are also presented.

As for textbooks: textbooks were published in 2000 – a lecture course “Skin and Venereal Diseases” – and in 2002 “Dermatovenereology” in Russian, English and French, edited by Professor G.I. Lobanovsky, and the next three editions are the national textbook “Dermatology. Venereology “in 2012 in Russian and Ukrainian, as well as” Dermatology. Venereology “in 2013 in English, edited by Professor V.I .Stepanenko. The above textbooks are recommended by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for students of medical universities.

• How does ONMedU differ from other higher medical educational institutions of Ukraine?

First of all, the 120-year history and world-famous scientists who glorified domestic and world science are the founders of scientific and medical schools – academicians M.F. Gamalia, O.O. Bogomolets, L.V. Gromashevsky, V.P. Filatov, M.A. Yasinovsky, P.M. Serkov, B. Ya. Reznik and others, as well as numerous innovations initiated by the rector of ONMedU, academician V.M. Zaporozhan.

The rectorship of Professor V.M. Zaporozhan is a time of great changes and opportunities both in the country and, of course, in our university. This is a period of transformation in science, education and practical medicine. The country’s first international medical clinics were organized, followed by multidisciplinary, narrow-profile university clinics. Later, Academic Councils for the defense of PhD and doctoral dissertations were established, new medical and computer technologies were introduced in the clinic, in the educational process, which made it possible to provide students with modern education. Education on the basis of commercial contracts of domestic and foreign students expanded, the medical institute was transformed into a national medical university, a science park was created, international cooperation was developed, world-famous foreign scientists were invited to the university, international and domestic conferences were held, publishing and more.

• What are the plans of the department for 2021?

The academic work will focus on the modern features of teaching our discipline in quarantine, in this regard, curriculum will be modified and as well as methodological materials for students, interns, trainees and teachers, introduced distance learning methods will be introduced.

In the scientific sense, we will develop international cooperation on topical issues of dermatology, venereology and cosmetology. We will expand interdepartmental work among medical universities of Ukraine on the development and implementation of new methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of chronic dermatoses and sexually transmitted diseases. In medical practice, we plan to open a dermato-cosmetology department, where we will implement modern hardware methods of diagnosis, therapy and prevention of skin pathology.

In addition, we plan to work on the publication of modern monographs of clinical and analytical content, as well as the expansion of scientific publications by employees of the department in journals indexed in scientific databases Scopus / Web of Science.

In public work it is planned to publish works by the staff of the department in popular science and periodicals on various aspects of providing dermatovenereological and cosmetic care to the population.