Department of Physiology
Today’s Department of Physiology was established in 1999 by merging the Department of Physiology and the Department of Pathological Physiology. The department provides teaching of physiology, pathophysiology and clinical physiology. It also carries out research activities in this field. In organizational terms, the department is integrated into the Section of Morphology and Physiology within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
The former Department of Physiology began to develop its activities with the establishment of the College of Veterinary Medicine in Brno. It was shortly located at the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University in Brno. The management of the newly established department was entrusted to a prominent physiologist prof. MUDr. Edward Babák. The establishment and development of the Department of Physiology were related to the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University in Brno.
In the wake of the November 1989 revolution, after the interim management of the Department of Physiology led by prof. MVDr. Rudolf Hrabák, CSc., at the end of 1990, doc. MVDr. Jiri Filka, CSc. was appointed head of a newly independent department.
The independent Department of Pathological Physiology has a much shorter history. It was established in connection with the development of the specialization "pathological physiology" in veterinary pathology in 1961. Independence was achieved after a decade of teaching pathological physiology. Prof. MVDr. Vincenc Jelínek, DrSc. was involved in the formation of the new discipline. Prof. MVDr. Milan Lebeda, CSc. was appointed the first head of the Department of Pathological Physiology.
In 1990, a long-term teacher of pathological physiology, MVDr. Augustin Kučera, CSc. was appointed to the position of head of the independent department.
In 1999, the then Department of Physiology was merged with the Department of Pathological Physiology to become the Department of Normal and Pathological Physiology, later renamed the Department of Physiology.
Education
The Department of Physiology provides in both the Czech and English degree programmes teaching of Physiology (2nd and 3rd semester at FVM and FVHE), Pathological Physiology (4th and 5th semester at FVM and FVHE), Laboratory Diagnostics in Pets (5th semester at FVM), compulsory elective courses of the study plan of FVM – Clinical Pathology (6th year, final state exam subject), Basics of Laboratory Diagnostics of Non-Communicable Diseases, Laboratory Diagnostic Algorithms in Internal Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory Diagnostics in Small and Large animals – Interpretation. In the Czech degree programme Animal Protection and Welfare of the Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, the department provides teaching of Laboratory Examination of Samples II – Haematology (3rd semester) and Laboratory Examination of Samples III – Molecular Analysis (4th semester).
The teachers of the department participated in carrying out several educational projects – the University Development Fund of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and ESF projects. Examples of topics addressed: Modernization of teaching physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system using animated educational programs, From physiology to medicine – integration of science, research, vocational education and practice, Use of explant cultures in teaching physiology and their biomedical applications, Creative approaches in teaching physiology – integrated (motivational) educational modules, etc.
A substantial activity of the Department of Physiology was the creation of many texts in Czech and English by the staff.
In cooperation with UPOL Olomouc and MOÚ Brno, other teaching texts were prepared, increasing the physiology and laboratory diagnostics knowledge of students and motivating them for further study.
The Department of Physiology itself or in cooperation with the Clinical Laboratory for Small Animals FVM are workplaces where the topics of professional work are addressed, it is also a training workplace for students of the doctoral study program in the field of physiology and pharmacology, or morphology, physiology and pharmacology. It is also an external training facility (cooperation with the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the ASCR, v. v. i.) for students of the doctoral study program of the Faculty of Science, MU Brno.
The teachers of the department also worked as heads of student projects applied to the IVA and IMA VETUNI Brno and as PhD theses supervisors.
The department co-organized the Mendel Forum and Mendel Day conferences for grammar school and university students. Other annual events in which the department participated in organizational and lecturing activities were Afternoons with DNA, Nobel Anniversaries and Science in Action, Summer with Mendel, Mendel’s Weekend and others. In 2015, there was the inauguration of the Mendelianum Centre where VFU Brno (through the Institute of Physiology) is a collaborating institution.
In the field of teaching, there was also international cooperation, which consisted of arranging lectures and seminars by foreign lecturers within the ESF project Internationalization of Veterinary Medicine Teaching as a Way to the European Labor Market (Module 2 – Integration of Preclinical and Clinical Education). ESF projects supported the visit of students involved in these projects to foreign universities. Foreign lecturers also participated in the program of the international conferences Mendel Forum and Mendel Day.
The teachers of the department also provide lectures at the University of the Third Age in the program Humans and Animals.
The research activity in the past decade was based on the intentions supported by grant projects – GA CR, GA AV, IGA / AZV MH CR, IGA ÚŽFG, ESVCP, NAZV, Royal Society, MZ OK, IGA VFU, ITA VFU. It was carried out in cooperation with other institutions. Among domestic institutions, the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics AS CR, v.v.i., Institute of Experimental Medicine AS CR, v.v.i., Institute of Analytical Chemistry AS CR, v.v.i., 1st and 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, FNUSA Brno, and MOÚ Brno should be mentioned. The projects addressed were: physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system, development of immune mechanisms, the pathophysiology of a systemic inflammatory response, apoptosis as physiological cell death, physiological aspects of intercellular communication, development and homeostasis of hard tissues, craniofacial development, stem cells in odontogenesis, markers of osteoarthritis, molecular mechanisms of chondrogenesis, novel physiological functions of cysteine proteases, Myb transcriptional program in osteogenesis and osteosarcomas, physiology and pathophysiology of blood and endocrine system.
International scientific research collaboration with publication outputs was conducted with King´s College London, Freie Universität Berlin, Ghent University, Université Paris Descartes Paris, INSERM Strasbourg, University of Virginia, Medizinische Universität Wien and several university departments in the USA. This collaboration addressed topics in the field of molecular and cellular regulation of osteogenesis and odontogenesis. The department was also involved in research under the International Clinical Research Centre (ICRC). The department’s staff continues to participate in international research under bilateral and Inter-Excellence projects involving European and overseas centres.
Young teachers of the department were also involved in IGA projects of the UVPS Brno and ITA projects of the UVPS Brno. The Department of Physiology participates in the organization of scientific conferences, including conferences of young scientists.
Buildings, facilities, equipment
Since 2007, the department has been located in building no. 34. It is equipped with many instruments to register functions and the state of the indoor environment. Instrumentation for non-invasive monitoring of functions, for example, portable wireless ECG system, pulse oximeters, Biopac device for registration of a wide range of functions, various types of tonometers, spirometers, ergometer, dynamometers, ophthalmoscopes, otoscopes, fluorescent microscope, inverted microscope and other types of microscopes, biochemical analyser for electrolyte determination, glucometers, ketometer, digital pH meter, colostrometer, lactate analyser, refractometers, capnometer, portable USG machine, centrifuges, incubator, laminar box, etc.
Eminent professors in the history of the department
Prof. MUDr. et MVDr. h. c. Edward Babák – first head of the Department of Physiology, an outstanding organizer and teacher, focused on comparative physiology, head of the Department from 1919 to 1926, first rector of the university from 1919 to 1921
prof. MVDr. RTDr. Tomáš Vacek – a renowned physiologist, mainly concerned with comparative physiology, respiratory physiology and thermoregulation, as well as metabolic processes in animals, head of the Department from 1926 to 1939
prof. MVDr. Antonín Holub, DrSc. – physiologist dealing with developmental physiology and animal metabolism, head of the department from 1960 to 1983
prof. MVDr. Milan Lebeda, CSc. – first head of the Department of Pathological Physiology, headed the department from 1961 to 1971
prof. MVDr. Jaroslav Doubek, CSc. – focused on physiology and pathophysiology of animals, an expert in the field of clinical laboratory diagnostics of animals, current head of the institute including physiology and pathophysiology since 1999
Interesting facts
In 2011, two students from the Master’s degree programme in FVM won the Sigma-Aldrich Grand Prize in the Europe region for the creation of a video on the future of stem cells. The funds received were used to address projects at the Department of Physiology. The academic staff of the department received the UNESCO/L’Oréal Women in Science Award 2015 and medals from other universities.
prof. MVDr. Jaroslav Doubek, CSc.
