Simferopol

Crimean State Medical University - Histology and Embryology

Department of Histology and Embryology

Prof Elena Shapovalova, head of the Department of Histology and Embryology, contacted us on the recommendation of Prof. Elena Efstafjeva from the Department of Physiology, with whom we have enjoyed a very fruitful collaboration for years. The histological sections were outdated or damaged. Obtaining new ones would require the killing of numerous animals. The lecturers decided to ask us for help instead.

The agreement was signed on 3 January 2014. Head of Department Prof Shapovalova was enthusiastic about the teaching materials that our project partner Dimitrij Leporskij brought with him at the agreement signing: two sets of human tissue slides, various computer programs, a laptop, and suturing models. Prof Shapovalova is convinced that human histology can be taught much better this way than with tissue from killed animals.

340 animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits, rats, frogs, and chickens, will now be spared from death.

The suturing models will be used instead of practical classes in removing and preparing organs from animals to create histological slides. Histology will now be taught using the donated computer programs, a projector, and a laptop. The fact that the software is largely in English is not a problem for Prof Shapovalova, as most of the students are from abroad, primarily from India and various African and Central Asian countries.

Prof Elena Shapovalova

Many students at the Crimean State Medical University in Simferopol are from Africa and Asia.