Biography

I graduated with an MSc in animal and human physiology from the Odesa National University (Odesa, Ukraine) in 1998. After that I began my PhD research project on pharmacological profiles of the ligands of type A receptor of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA_AR) under supervision of Prof. Zinkovsky. This initiated my interest to ionotropic receptors' biophysics, molecular pharmacology and connected modulatory signalling. After gaining a PhD degree in Neuropharmacology in 2002 I worked as a postdoc in several institutions on various projects connected to cellular and molecular neuroscience, focusing on different types of ionotropic receptors. First, under supervision of Dr. Shyu Bai-Chuang (Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan) I studied GABA_AR signalling and its modulation in anterior cingulate cortex. Next, in the laboratory of Dr. John Clements (The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) I studied the effects of various mutations on signalling properties of the glycine receptor. After that I moved to the UK, where I obtained a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow position in the Queen Square Institute of Neurology (University College London). At this position working in a team led by Prof. Dmitri Rusakov, I was involved in a number of projects connected to fundamental neuroscience, which resulted in several high-profile publications. My first independent Chancellor's Fellow position was in the University of Edinburgh, where from 2014 to 2019 I studied molecular pharmacology and the functional role of spontaneously opening GABA_ARs in the brain. I joined the University of Aberdeen in 2020, aiming to investigate the role of GABA_ARs in modulation of appetite and feeding behaviour.

External Memberships

Society for Neuroscience

The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

The Physiological Society

Prizes and Awards

Burgen Scholar Award of Academia Europaea, 2008

Research Overview

My current research interests are focused on the impact of GABA_AR ligands on feeding behaviour and appetite, with a specific attention to underlying molecular mechanisms. One research direction is a role of GABA_AR-mediated signalling in neurons of a specific type (AgRP cells), localized in hypothalamus, in regulation of feeding behaviour. Hypothalamic pool of AgRP cells seems to play a pivotal role in modulation of appetite, with GABA_AR-mediated outgoing signalling as the main mechanism of fine tuning of feeding activity. This helps to understand neural mechanisms controlling development of obesity and related disorders (such as a Prader-Willi syndrome). Another focus is on the regulation of GABA_AR function by pH fluctuations in the fish brain, and connected changes in feeding of fish species of industrial importance (rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon). The latter research direction, apart from clarification of understudied fundamental mechanisms of pH-mediated neural inhibitory signalling, in a long-term perspective should lead to optimization of fish feeding in aquaculture.

Funding and Grants

Research grants in the University of Aberdeen

The Wellcome Trust ISSF Award, 2020: £20,000. GABA_ARs control over taste perception

BBSRC Research Grant, 2021 (co-investigator): £457,906. Regulation of feeding by brainstem GABA neurons.

Pump-Prime Interdisciplinary Research Grant, 2021: £10,000. The role of GABA_ARs in regulation of fish appetite.

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Invited lecturer: University of Edinburgh, course Pharmacology 3.