Department of Neurology

About the department

The history of the Department of Neurology at Bogomolets National Medical University is, in essence, the history of Ukrainian neurology.

It is rightly said that “Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be expelled.” This is evident in the 120-year history of the Department of Neurology at Bogomolets National Medical University.

Before the establishment of an independent department, individual lectures on neurological diseases were delivered at the medical faculty of Saint Volodymyr University in Kyiv. Beginning in 1855, Professor V.S. Pokrovsky, Head of the Department of Hospital Therapy and a student of S.P. Botkin, was the most consistent in this endeavor. For him, the topics of somatoneurology, neuro- and psychopathology were of particular interest.

A new phase in the teaching of neurology began in 1884 with the establishment of the unified Department of Nervous and Mental Diseases, headed by Professor I.O. Sikorsky. His name is associated with the introduction of the independent discipline of neurology at the medical faculty of Kyiv University. He involved a group of scientists in teaching various aspects of neurology, including M.M. Lapinsky and Privat-Docent V.V. Seletsky, both known for their clinical expertise. Professor I.O. Sikorsky delivered a course on the general pathology and therapy of neurological diseases to students.

His first and last lectures to medical students at Saint Volodymyr University in 1896, titled “The First and Last Day of a Student’s Clinical Practice,” are noteworthy. As a senior colleague, he offered advice to future doctors that remains relevant today: “The medical profession elevates a person, cultivating the noblest moral qualities—habitual diligence, generosity, empathy, and the ability to maintain strength of spirit even in adversity. It requires special professional virtues.”

The official establishment of the independent Department of Neurology took place in 1903 when the combined Department of Nervous and Mental Diseases was divided into two separate departments: Neurology and Psychiatry. The first Head of the Department of Neurology was Professor M.M. Lapinsky, a student of I.O. Sikorsky and one of the founders of the Ukrainian Neurological School. This division was not merely formal, as neurology had by then evolved into an independent clinical discipline. Professor Lapinsky, a renowned clinical neurologist, was awarded the title of Privat-Docent in 1901 and became a professor in 1903. He headed the department until 1918, after which he emigrated to Croatia.

The history of the department is closely intertwined with the history of the Neurology Clinic of the Medical Faculty of Kyiv University, which was then based at Oleksandrivska Hospital, occupying two barracks (one stone and one wooden), with a capacity of 60 beds. A separate barrack was used for lectures and practical classes, housing two laboratories: a pathohistological laboratory and a laboratory for the study of cerebrospinal fluid. The scientific activities of the clinic were reflected in clinical conferences and meetings of the Neurological Society. Prominent neurologists, including Professors B.M. Mankivsky, O.R. Kyrychynsky, and V.G. Lazarev, were graduates of M.M. Lapinsky’s school.

In 1919, the Department of Nervous Diseases was headed by Professor V.V. Seletsky, a student of I.O. Sikorsky. Under his leadership, the department was divided in 1922 into two separate entities: the Department of Faculty Neurology, which he headed until 1950, and the newly created Department of Hospital Neurology, led by B.M. Mankivsky. The clinical base of the department was the neurological ward of the Kyiv Military Hospital, which had 100 beds (1922-1933).

Academician B.M. Mankivsky with the Department Staff (1940)

In 1933, the Department of Nervous Diseases of the Faculty of Medicine was established, with B.M. Mankivsky as its head until 1962. His first assistants were Yu.V. Vasilenko, V.M. Slonimska, V.L. Beder, and L.I. Cherni. Later, other assistants at the department included T.I. Donchak, Z.M. Drachova, Ye.H. Zahorovsky, M.P. Kurinna, V.M. Mezhyborska, and N.V. Penyok.

During his long scientific career (1922-1962), Academician B.M. Mankivsky made significant contributions to various fields of clinical neurology. Many of his scientific works were the first publications on these topics in both domestic and international literature, demonstrating the prominence of Ukrainian science. He proposed a classification of infectious diseases of the nervous system, conducted extensive research on multiple sclerosis and disseminated encephalomyelitis, and was the first to describe pineal gland tumors and Rathke’s pouch cysts (craniopharyngiomas), developing methods for their treatment. B.M. Mankivsky elucidated the mechanisms underlying many symptoms in myasthenia, paroxysmal myoplegia, and facial hemiatrophy, and he studied the etiology and pathogenesis of dermatomyositis and other collagen diseases.

Academician B.M. Mankivsky and Professor V.M. Slonimska with Members of the Student Scientific Society of the Department (1949)

 

From 1933 to 1950, the department’s clinical base was the Neurology Clinic of the Institute of Psychoneurology, and since 1950, it has been the Neurology Department of the Central City Clinical Hospital of Kyiv (currently St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital). Around the Department of Nervous Diseases, a new generation of graduate students, clinical residents, and doctors was forming, many of whom later became prominent scientists: S.M. Sharavsky, V.M. Slonimska, S.M. Savenko, B.L. Smirnov, L.I. Smirnov, I.O. Hilula, Ya.I. Henisman, A.D. Dinaburg, O.L. Dukhin, Z.M. Drachova, V.Y. Taitslin, V.D. Bilyk, I.F. Kryvoruchko, and Ye.H. Zahorovsky. For many years, the department’s faculty included renowned clinical neurologists: Associate Professors G.D. Bobrovska, R.H. Gutman, Z.M. Drachova, and O.Y. Kabannik.

After the death of Academician B.M. Mankivsky, the position of Head of the Department of Nervous Diseases was taken over by his son, Professor M.B. Mankivsky, a Merited Scientist of Ukraine, who led the department from 1962 to 1965. His primary research focused on neuro-rheumatism and cerebrovascular pathology. His student, Associate Professor G.D. Bobrovska, continued these studies and headed the department from 1965 to 1969.

Staff of the Department of Nervous Diseases and the Higher Nervous Activity Division of the Bogomolets Institute of Physiology (1952)

From 1969 to 1992, the Department of Nervous Diseases was significantly shaped by the work of Professor O.A. Yarosh, a Merited Worker of Higher Education of Ukraine and a student of Professor D.I. Panchenko. His scientific contributions were focused on peripheral nervous system diseases, cerebrovascular disorders, multiple sclerosis, and the effects of alcoholism and influenza on the nervous system. He was the first scientific director of the Republican Center for Multiple Sclerosis, which he founded in 1979 at the department’s clinics. During this period, the department’s faculty included Professors I.F. Kryvoruchko and S.M. Vinychuk, and Associate Professors L.A. Areshnikova, Z.M. Drachova, O.M. Tyazhkorob, V.I. Bobrova, M.H. Kyryienko, and assistants V.H. Barabanchyk, T.I. Illyash, B.V. Zapadnyuk, Ye.H. Zahorovsky, V.M. Mezhyborska, M.M. Prokopiv, L.I. Sokolova, M.P. Tytarenko, L.A. Shurynok, and P.P. Unich. In 1985, Professor O.A. Yarosh edited the textbook “Nervous Diseases.”

In May 1992, the department was headed by Professor S.M. Vinychuk, a Merited Scientist and Technologist of Ukraine. A graduate of Kyiv Medical Institute, he became a consistent advocate of the traditions of the Kyiv Neurological School founded by Academician B.M. Mankivsky. The influence of Professor Vinychuk’s professional activity on the development of modern neurology is significant, particularly in his research on vascular and demyelinating diseases of the nervous system. He pioneered a new systemic approach to the study of cerebrovascular diseases and was the first to describe the main types of systemic-cerebral hemodynamic disorders in the acute phase of ischemic stroke, improving the medical care system for these patients. He was also the first in Ukraine to describe the types of hemorrhagic transformation of brain infarcts. An essential part of Professor Vinychuk’s scientific activity was the development of criteria for the early diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the creation of treatment strategies based on the type of disease progression.

Under Professor Vinychuk’s leadership, three Doctors of Medical Sciences (B.V. Zapadnyuk, L.I. Sokolova, and O.A. Mialovytska) and eight Candidates of Medical Sciences were trained. He also edited the textbooks “Neurology” (2008) and “Nevrologiya” (2010). In 2007, the Department of Nervous Diseases was renamed the Department of Neurology.

From 2011 to 2022, the department was headed by Professor L.I. Sokolova, who rose from a postgraduate student to professor and head of the department. Since December 2022, she has been actively working at the department as a professor. As a student of Professor O.A. Yarosh and Associate Professor Z.M. Drachova, Larysa Ivanivna diligently continues the traditions of her mentors and predecessors, enhancing the educational process and researching the most pressing scientific problems in neurology. Upholding the continuity of the department’s scientific generations, L.I. Sokolova actively and purposefully studies the issues of demyelinating diseases of the nervous system. She is the scientific director of the Kyiv City Multiple Sclerosis Center. Her main scientific works are devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis, viral infections of the nervous system, peripheral nervous system diseases, and cerebrovascular pathology. She is the author of more than 180 scientific papers.

Today, the department is headed by Maria Prokopiv, a Merited Doctor of Ukraine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, and Professor, who has dedicated 40 years to the Department of Neurology at Bogomolets National Medical University, rising from senior laboratory assistant to professor and head of the department. Her main scientific interests are focused on cerebrovascular diseases and the organization of care for patients with cerebrovascular pathology. She is the author and co-author of over 200 scientific and educational-methodological publications and is actively involved in teaching, clinical, and consulting work in the neurological departments and outpatient clinics at St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital of Kyiv. She is also a consultant for the Aviation Medical Service of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Chief Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and a member of three multidisciplinary working groups on the development of medical care standards for the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Additionally, she serves as the president of the Kyiv Neurologists Association.

The Department of Neurology at NMU has always been known not only for its academic leaders but also for its highly qualified staff members. Currently, under the guidance of Professor M.M. Prokopiv, the department successfully employs skilled clinical neurologists: Professors L.I. Sokolova, T.M. Cherenko, and V.S. Melnyk; Associate Professors T.I. Illyash, V.Y. Krylova, N.S. Turchyna, T.A. Dovbonos, V.O. Svistilnyk, H.H. Symonenko, H.S. Trepet, Yu.L. Heletiuk; Assistants S.M. Sholomon, O.M. Muravska, K.P. Potapova; and external assistants M.O. Mykhailychenko and Ya.H. Saminin. Lectures in neurology for 4th-year students are delivered at a high academic level. Great attention is paid to the training of neurology interns (Professor T.M. Cherenko and Associate Professor T.I. Illyash).

Currently, the Department of Neurology has eight clinical bases: the Neurology Department and the Cerebrovascular Pathology Department at St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital of Kyiv; two Neurology Departments at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 4; the Neurology Department at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 3; the Neurology Department at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 6; the Pediatric Neurology Department at the Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 4 in the Solomianskyi District of Kyiv; the Neurology Department at the State Institution “Main Medical Clinical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine”; the Central Polyclinic of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine; and the University Clinic, where students of the 4th to 6th years from the medical, pediatric, and dental faculties, as well as the Educational and Scientific Institute of Mental Health and neurology interns, receive their training. The department and its clinics host the Center for Cerebrovascular Pathology and the Kyiv City Multiple Sclerosis Center. The faculty of the department is actively involved in providing medical consultations and introducing new diagnostic and treatment methods into healthcare practice. The department’s specialists offer consultations for patients from various regions of Ukraine and provide emergency medical consultations.

The scientific society of students, established by B.M. Mankivsky in 1922, plays a significant role in developing medical thinking and the scientific and practical skills of future doctors. Today, the society is led by Assistant S.M. Sholomon. More than 30 former members of the society have become Doctors and Candidates of Medical Sciences. Professors I.F. Kryvoruchko and Doctors of Medical Sciences Z.M. Drachova, B.V. Zapadnyuk, and L.I. Sokolova, who have worked or continue to work at the department, were members of this society. Former members of the Department of Neurology’s scientific society also include Ye.H. Pedachenko, now an academician of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine and director of the A.P. Romodanov Institute of Neurosurgery, Professor Yu.I. Holovchenko from the Shupyk National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, and Professor V.H. Cherkasov, who headed the Department of Anatomy at Bogomolets National Medical University.

The department has always valued human dignity and continues to foster respectful and supportive attitudes towards students, medical staff, and patients. The traditions established by our predecessors, M.M. Lapinsky and B.M. Mankivsky, are successfully upheld and developed by their successors and students. The Department of Neurology adheres to the principles that have guided doctors throughout history: preserving patients’ lives and alleviating their suffering. These traditions reflect the continuity of time and generations over the department’s more than 120-year history.