Laboratory of clinical neuroimmunology

Galina Ilyinichna Kolyaskina is the head of the laboratory of neuroimmunology, doctor of medical sciences, professor. In 1964 she upheld her PhD's thesis “Evaluation of monkey vacuolizing virus 40 in tissue culture” and in 1972 - her doctoral thesis “Patterns of autoimmune processes in schizophrenia (clinico-immunological and genetic correlation)”. Her scientific interests involve neuroscience, biological psychiatry, and immunology. She has over 100 scientific publications. Under her scientific supervision, 12 PhD's and 1 doctoral theses have been upheld. G.I. Kolyaskina takes part in the organization and conduction of a number of international research programs.

The laboratory has been existing since the 70-s (before that, it operated as a group within the laboratory of general pathophysiology). It is the centre of immunological studies in national psychiatry. Wide international studies according to WHO programs and bilateral programs (with the USA, Finland and Hungary) have been performed. The laboratory is using such modern methods, as culture of primary and transplantable cells, fusion of cultured cells (formation of a hybridoma), cloning of secreting hybridoma cells, immune blotting, immunoenzymatic, immunofluorescent and radioimmune methods.

The Laboratory is staffed with 11 research fellows.

The structure of the Laboratory consists of 2 groups: a group of clinical neuroimmunology; a group of hybridoma technologies.

Scope of research activities of the Laboratory:

1. Studies of immune systems in endogenous psychoses (schizophrenia, schizoaffective and affective psychoses) and endogenous/organic cerebral pathology (Dementia of the Alzheimer type) at various stages of the disease course.

2. Development of hybridoma technologies to be used in various fields of biology and biological psychiatry.

3. Use of hybridoma technologies for the analysis of molecular heterogeneity of serotonin transporter.