In 1930, a correspondence medical institute was opened in Vinnytsia, a branch of the All-Ukrainian Institute of Correspondence Medical Education (AICME). In 1931 the Department of Histology was founded. The first head of the department was a pathologist N. A. Vakulenko (1890-1962), an assistant was a doctor G. P. Baranovsky. In 1932, the Vinnytsia Correspondence Medical Institute was reorganized into the Evening Production Institute. In 1934, by the order of the People’s Commissar of Health of Ukraine, a stationary medical institute was organized in Vinnytsia.
In 1935 the department was headed by Professor V. E. Fomin (1876-1940) — a graduate of Moscow University. Thanks to prof. V. E. Fomin, the department was well-equipped and had all essential reagents. V. D. Bukhovets, G. I. Kashlakova, S. A. Pletnyov and E. P. Topchieva worked as assistants. V. E. Fomin’s research was devoted to the study of the development of adipose tissue (doctoral dissertation “On the Development of Adipose Tissue in Some Mammals”, Moscow, 1917). In 1937 prof. V. E. Fomin published his lectures “Special Histology with Embryology” (Vinnytsia, 1937). In the pre-war period, the department mainly provided the educational process.
In August 1944, I. V. Almazov (1903-1972), Candidate of Medical Sciences, was elected the Head of the Department. Thanks to the efforts of I. V. Almazov and assistants I. D. Heidei, P. F. Shamrai, V. D. Vakolyuk, the department was completely restored and all conditions were created for students to take a course in histology, cytology, embryology; at the same time, scientific activity began.
In August 1969 the department was headed by Assoc. P. F. Shamrai (since 1966 — Candidate of Medical Sciences). In the practical classes, students were provided with workplaces with microscopes and sets of slides. The theoretical material was well-supported by tables, models, color slides, electronic micrographs and diagnostics of slides. Technical teaching aids were widely used in lectures and practical classes. Significant work was carried out aimed at improving the educational process, optimizing it and increasing the efficiency of teaching classes in general and special histology. The laboratory of the department was equipped with the necessary equipment and reagents, scientific research was performed.
In 1980 Assoc. Prof. P. F. Shamrai defended his doctoral dissertation “Morphology of the Wound Process Under the Influence of Pesticides in the Experiment”.
Employees of the department participated in congresses and conferences, successfully presented scientific reports at the VI, VIII and IX All-Union Congresses of Anatomists, Histologists and Embryologists (1958, 1974, 1981), at the I Ukrainian Congress of Anatomists, Histologists and Embryologists (1980), VI Ukrainian Republican Conference of Anatomists, Histologists and Embryologists (1975), I Congress of Pathologists of the USSR (1970), the All-Union Scientific Conference on Advanced Hygiene of Pesticides (1975), V Conference on Age Morphology at the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences (1961), the republican conference at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1982) and at a number of other congresses and conferences. In 1972, Assoc. P. F. Shamrai was a delegate to the V International Congress of Rural Medicine (Varna, Bulgaria) where he delivered a report “Peculiarities of Skin Wound Healing Under the Influence of Polychloroprene”. In 1976 Assoc. A. V. Rychko participated in the International Symposium on Neurosecretion.
From 1989 to September 1992, the Department of Histology, Cytology and Embryology was headed by Associate Professor E. A. Bezkorovaina. In 1989 V. M. Onikienko defended her dissertation on the topic “Morphogenesis of Bone Tissue in the Correlation of Immobilization Stress with Sodium Succinate”. She was working at the Department of Histology from 1983 until 1998 (she continued her activities at the Research Center of the university).
At the same stage (1990), the candidate’s dissertation was defended by the assistant V. V. Kravchuk on the topic “Post-traumatic Regeneration of the Liver Under Chronic Exposure to Polychloroprene”.
In the fall of 1992, Assoc. R.P. Piskun defended her doctoral dissertation on the topic “Functional Morphology of Internal Organs in Experimental Cholesterol with Drugs of a Different Mechanism of Action”. The following year, she headed the Department of Medical Biology and received the title of professor.
In 1992, M. S. Pushkar, MD, who had worked at the Department of Pathological Anatomy until then, was appointed the Head of the Department.
The scientific direction of the department at this stage is experimental researches of influence on an adult organism and posterity of small doses of pesticides, cytostatics, — researches of immune system and immunopathological states, action on an organism of small doses of natural radiation in the form of radon therapeutic baths.