Spotlight: Dr. Oksana Zayachkivska, MD, PhD, DSc, Prof. of Physiology
By Brent Davis, PhD
Dr. Zayachkivska comes to AUHS from the Ukraine. She and her 94-year-old mother had to wait 24 hours at the Ukrainian-Polish border and three months in Poland as refugees from the brutal war in Ukraine. Now she, her husband and her mother are making a new home, here in Southern California while her two sons remain abroad.
About her family she wrote that she was raised in the home of a physician “with strong Christian values based on respect any living beings based on gratitude, tolerance, solidarity, goodness and empathy to every people. I love my Ukraine and its independence and freedom are vital issues for our family.”
Dr. Zayachkivska comes to AUHS from Lviv National Medical University (Lviv, Ukraine) through her long-term international collaboration with Dr. Sandor Szabo, Founding Dean of the AUHS School of Medicine, whom she has known for 20 years. She has been a member of the core faculty of the Summer Schools of Stress since 2013. These schools have been held annually by Dr. Szabo and other students of the late Hans Selye, the father of stress research. The most recent school was this month at AUHS.
She will continue to do research and teaching in the area of physiology. Currently she is working with other faculty of the AUHS School of Medicine to research long-COVID syndrome. In her spare time, she enjoys physical activity and reading.
My future dreams are related with SOM of AUHS which will educate future generation of medical doctors with novel knowledge based on Christian values. I would like to follow my research work based on my previously obtained results and related to development of biomarkers and physiologically based approach for prevention and treatment of different medical disorders.
We are thankful for Dr. Zayachkivska joining AUHS and are directing this month’s Spotlight on her and all the brave people of Ukraine.
