Oksana Zayachkivska, MD, PhD, DSc
Adjunct Faculty
Education
- MD (with distinguish), Lviv National Medical University Medical Faculty
- PhD, Lviv National Medical University Medical Faculty
- DSc, Lviv National Medical University Medical Faculty
Bio
Oksana Zayachkivska MD, completed of Internal Diseases and Endocrinology residency and obtained her PhD in the Physiology department at the Lviv National Medical University Medical Faculty (LNMU), Lviv, Ukraine, followed by associate professorship of physiology. Subsequently, she as visiting research fellow completed post-doctoral training, at the Physiology Department of Jagiellonian University Medical College, Cracow, Poland where she conducted advanced research in one of the European most prestigious labs of Prof. SJ Konturek. Later, after she completed her DSc in Medicine at LNMU, she was appointment as full Professor (2010) and Head of the Department of Physiology (2016) at LNMU. Her duties included also served as an advisor to doctoral students in the PhD program “Medicine”. She was a mentor of research for ten PhD students (2009-2024). Since 2013, she has been a founding faculty member of the International Summer Schools on Stress. She joined the AUHS in 2022, as a professor of physiology and pathophysiology. She has joined appointment at the School of Pharmacy. She was recognized as the 2024 Research Scholar of the Year at the AUHS School of Pharmacy Faculty Awards (2025). She has more than 2 decades of accomplishments in investigating molecular and cellular mechanisms, brain-gut-fat axis in gastrointestinal and metabolic disorders, stress-related diseases, including prenatal programming and diet influence. So far, she has 150 original publications, 25 review articles and 20 book chapters.
Subject Matter Expertise
Physiology, Pathophysiology, Pharmacology; Gastroenterology; Endocrinology, Stress Medicine
Selected Publications
Zayachkivska, O. Where Is the place of the modern understanding of obesity in GI problems in Parkinson Disease? Reviewing Traditional Models Through Contemporary View. J Clinical Gastroenterology 59(6): 582, July 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000002207
Zayachkivska O, et al. Looking ahead to 2026. Med Sci. 2025Jun.20;77(1). https://doi.org/10.25040/ntsh2025.01.02
Zayachkivska O, et al. The role of social media in shaping scientific medical journals. Med Sci. 2025Jun.20;77(1). https://mspsss.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/1134
Szabo S. Zayachkivska O, et al. Long COVID has variable incidence and clinical presentations: our 6‑country collaborative study. Inflammopharmacology, Published online Feb. 21,2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-025-01640-1
Chang YI, Kovalchuk I, Savytska M, Zayachkivska O. Building active learning in medical education: How to bridge vision with real practice? Med Sci. 2024; 76 (2). https://doi.org/10.25040/ntsh2024.02.25
Szabo S, Bekesevych A, Zayachkivska O. Integrative medicine – the future of healthcare? Med. Sci. 2024; 76 (2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.25040/ntsh2024.02.24
Zayachkivska O et al. Long COVID prevalence and physiology-centered risks: population-based study in Ukraine. Inflammopharmacol 31, 597–602 (2023).
Szabo S, Gyires K, Zayachkivska O. Introduction to the ‘long COVID’ special issue. Inflammopharmacology. 2023 Mar 28:1
Zayachkivska O, et al. Clinical aspects in translational research on gastric tumorigenesis and development of new treatments. Med Sci. 2023 Dec.22;72(2).
Zayachkivska O et al. What is the role of brown adipose tissue in metabolic health: lessons learned and future perspectives in the long COVID?. Inflammopharmacology. 2023 Mar 21:1-9.
Szabo S, Zayachkivska O, Hussain A, Muller V. What is really ‘Long COVID’? Inflammopharmacology. 2023, 31, 551-557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-023-01194-0
Zayachkivska O, et al. Hydrogen Sulfide Prevents Mesenteric Adipose Tissue Damage, Endothelial Dysfunction, and Redox Imbalance From High Fructose Diet-Induced Injury in Aged Rats. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2021:1995.
Szabo S, Zayachkivska O. Creativity and originality are key elements in medical research: Recent illustration by the 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman. Med Sci. 2023, 72, (2). https://doi.org/10.25040/ntsh
Zayachkivska O., et al. Self-Perception of changes in lifestyle and wellbeing associated with social distancing during COVID-19 pandemic among medical students (the study in Lviv, Ukraine). Med Sci. 2021 Jun 10;64(1).
Zayachkivska O, et al. Integrative physiology as a tool for medical education transformation. Med Sci. 2021 Dec 13;65(2).
Zayachkivska O, et al. H2S Donors reverse age-related gastric malfunction impaired due to fructose-induced injury via CBS, CSE, and TST Expression. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2020 Jul 24;11:1134.
Zayachkivska, O., et al . Physiological basis for novel drug Hydrogen Sulfide-related therapy used to treat oxidative stress in the model of fructose-induced injury. The FASEB Journal, 33, 2019 lb67-lb67.
Zayachkivska, O. Digital technology in teaching medical students. Proceeding of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Med Sci. 2018, 52(1), 57-64. (Q3)
Zayachkivska, O., et al. Exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and suppressing hydrogen sulfide synthesis leads to altered structure and impaired function of the oesophagus and oesophagogastric junction. Inflammopharmacology, 2015, 23(2-3), 91-99.
Zayachkivska, O. Inflammatory response in visceral fat tissue and liver is prenatally programmed: experimental research. J Physiol Pharmacol, (2015). 66(66), 57-64. (Q2)
Brzozowski T, Zayachivska O, et al. Grapefruit-seed extract attenuates ethanol-and stress-induced gastric lesions via activation of prostaglandin, nitric oxide and sensory nerve pathways. World Journal of Gastroenterology: WJG. 2005 Nov 7;11(41):6450. (cited by 459)
Zayachkivska OS, Konturek SJ, et al. Gastroprotective effects of flavonoids in plant extracts. J J Physiol Pharmacol, 2005;56(1):219-31.
Research Interests:
Molecular & cellular mechanisms of GI injury and cytoprotection; Adipose tissue; Stress-realated diseases; Stress resilience; Long COVID
