Department of Pathophysiology

The department was founded in 1924, within the Medical Faculty of Yerevan State University. The founder and first head was Professor Levon Chgnavoryan. Levon Chgnavoryan headed the department in 1924-1934. In 1934-1935, the department was headed by Sh. Shubenko, in 1935-1943 by I. Bakhromeev (concurrently), in 1943-1951 by Asatur Sargsyan, in 1951-54 by Susanna Badalyan, in 1954-1970 by Asatur Sargsyan, in 1970-1994 by Sahak Khachatryan, in 1994-2006 by Griselda Navasardyan, in 2006- 2011 by Samvel Avetisyan, in 2011-2014 by Artem Grigoryan, in 2014-2021 by Samvel Avetisyan. Since 2021, the acting head of the department is Artem Sergey Grigoryan.

Honored Scientist, Professor A. Sargsyan made a great contribution to the establishment of the department, scientific-educational process and personnel training. The scientific studies of the collective led by him in the fields of professional poisonings and reanimatology are especially valuable. A. Sargsyan was also the founder and unchanged head of the Scientific Society of Pathologists-Physiologists of Armenia until the end of his life.

During the years of leadership of the department by Honored Scientist of the Republic of Armenia, Professor S. Khachatryan, experimental studies of terminal states of the organism and post-resuscitation period were continued, as well as certain research works were carried out towards clarifying metabolic-functional shifts occurring in the organism under conditions of atmospheric hyperbaria. Candidate theses were defended, articles and abstracts were published, printed publications were made.

Associate professors Sh. Badalyan, E. Atajanyan, G. Adamyan, M. Martirosyan, A. Papyan have their undeniable contribution in the establishment of the department, ensuring effective scientific and educational process.

Professor Griselda Navasardyan played a great role in modernizing the department’s activities. During the years of her leadership, priority in teaching pathophysiology was given to presenting modern knowledge, massive methodological work was carried out, the fruits of which exist until now. In 1995, she authored the first textbook of pathophysiology in the Armenian language, entitled “Dialogues on questions of pathophysiology”. Later, through her and the department staff’s efforts, a manual of special pathophysiology was also published. Professor G. Navasardyan is the author of the “General Pathophysiology” textbook (2007), which is approved by the Ministry of Education and Science as a university textbook. She is the founder and president of the Association of Pathophysiologists and Pathologists of Armenia.

Starting from 2006, under the leadership of Samvel Avetisyan, a number of reforms were implemented in the department, the test base meeting modern requirements was enriched.

With its high level of teaching and discipline, the department continues to be one of the best today, evidenced by the “Best Department of the 2010-2011 Academic Year” and “Best Department of the 2013-2014 Academic Year” awards given to the department by the Student Parliament of YSMU.

The Department of Pathophysiology teaches the subjects “Pathophysiology” and “Pathology”. Instruction is carried out in the form of lectures and practical classes:

• In the faculties of general medicine, dentistry, and military medicine: during 2 semesters, in the 3rd year, “Pathophysiology” is taught.
• In the faculty of pharmacy: in the spring semester of the 2nd year and the autumn semester of the 3rd year, “Pathology” is taught.

For clinical residents, a course in “Clinical Pathophysiology” is organized over 2 semesters.

The main goal of practical classes is the acquisition of pathophysiological analysis skills. For this purpose, students are presented with situational problems, the solution of which requires not only knowing the etiology and pathogenesis of various diseases but also being able to apply this knowledge in a specific case, developing medical reasoning and logic.

During a part of the practical classes, students get the opportunity to independently model this or that pathological process.

As a component of problem-based learning, round tables and student conferences are periodically organized, which give students the opportunity to independently study and analyze (with the guidance and consultation of the department’s lecturers) additional literature, then present before colleagues, and be a participant in scientific discussion. Thus, attempts are made to implement elements of student-centered teaching in the educational process.

Since 2008, as an effective means of information and communication, the pathophysiology department’s blog pathphys.livejournal.com has been used, where electronic versions of lecture presentations, announcements, questionnaires, interesting articles, etc. are posted.

Since 2020, the pathophysiology department’s Telegram channel t.me/pathphys has also been operating. The department also has a YouTube channel where lectures, presentations, and podcasts are posted. In recent years, an interactive component using the Mentimeter tool has also been introduced into lectures.

Since 2019, monthly seminars using interactive tools have also been a component of the educational process, ensuring stable horizontal and vertical integration with other subjects. The main skeleton of the seminars is the interactive clinical cases of NEJM.

The department also includes in the educational process the popular board game “Become a Cancer” and educational computer programs, for example, “Diagnose with the help of a smear”.

In May 2015, a poster competition was held at the department on various topics of special pathophysiology with the participation of English-speaking and Armenian-speaking students of the 3rd and 4th years.

Since 2020, students of the pharmacy faculty study the pathology subject using the Moodle platform with a multi-component assessment system. Currently the educational platform is used in all faculties for summaries and grading.

The department organizes olympiads every year on various issues of pathophysiology.

The research activities of the department have 2 main directions:

• Issues of pathophysiology of repeated hypokinesia as a comprehensive risk factor,
• Clarification of issues concerning the state of the innate immune system and its regulation during autoinflammatory diseases.

In recent years, the department’s staff has specialized in conducting behavioral research in various animal models. The student scientific research group attached to the department, which is led by Mary Arakelyan, a 3rd-year student of the Faculty of General Medicine, is involved in the works. In 2009, through the efforts of this group, the popular science booklet “Neuroscience” was translated from English into Armenian.

From July 6-15, 2015, the summer school “Pathophysiology from a Bird’s Eye View” was held. The main theme of the school was to view disease as a disruption of signaling mechanisms. 20 students of different courses with medical education participated, including 3 students from Russia, one student each from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The courses were conducted in English. Over 10 days in Tsaghkadzor, participants had the opportunity to listen to lectures, solve interesting problems through teamwork, participate in the filming of the movie “Adventures of a Sad Macrophage”, etc.

The main organizational works of the school, the organization and conduct of the courses were carried out by the teaching staff of the pathophysiology department. The invited lecturers of the school included Ehud Cohen (Israel), Zdenko Kovac (Croatia), Martin Oppermann (Germany), Manik Gemilyan (Armenia), Tigran Davtyan (Armenia), Armen Sanosyan (France). At the end of the summer school, participants were given certificates of participation and 3 credit units.

The department cooperates with almost all subdivisions of YSMU, most actively with the departments of Biochemistry, General Chemistry, the Student Parliament, and the central scientific research laboratory. There is also some experience of cooperation with the Armenian Medical Association.

In the international arena, the department cooperates with the International Society of Pathophysiologists, and the professor of the department, Griselda Navasardyan, is a member of the board of that association.

Within the framework of the International Association of Pathophysiologists, the department cooperates with all leading representatives of the field, including L.P. Churilov, A.V. Kubishkin, P.F. Litvitsky (Russia), Z. Kovac (Croatia), E. Cohen (Israel),

1. Tremblay (Canada) and others.

In the field of teaching methods, the cooperation with the Department of Pathophysiology of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zagreb and, especially, with the head of the latter department, Prof. Zdenko Kovac, was the most fruitful. Problem-centered teaching and learning became possible to achieve thanks to pathophysiological developments and generalizations. One of the ways of effective cooperation was the summer school held in Armenia in 2015, within the framework of which Prof. Kovac, E. Cohen and M. Oppermann (Germany) over a few days presented their approaches and methods, as well as literature regarding the application of new technologies and methodology.

Particularly positive results of cooperation were achieved through seminars and group discussions organized during the 7th International Congress of Pathophysiology held in Rabat in 2014, in particular in the directions of “Neuroscience” and “Teaching Methodology”.

Cooperation with Sechenov University (MSMU) is promising in terms of implementing a joint online course in clinical pathophysiology.

The Department of Pathophysiology cooperates with the COBRAIN research center and is a regular participant in the annual Brain awareness week.

The department cooperates with “Wikimedia Armenia Scientific-Educational NGO” in creating the most important medical articles in the Armenian-language encyclopedia.

Since 2023, the department has also been cooperating with the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), where it participates in conducting the European research “Recognizing broad ranges of inflammation and resolution of inflammation”.