Three Medical Institute students undertake internship in University Medical Centre Freiburg, Germany

At present the students of the Faculty of General Medicine, Penza State University, are pursuing scientific internship in the University Medical Centre Freiburg (Germany). Ilya Levashov, Irina Gorokhova and Kseniya Balanyuk were awarded the Russian Federation President grant for study abroad.

The scientific advisors of Ilya Levashov are Andrey Kuzmin, Candidate of Engineering Science, and Oleg Kalmin, Doctor of Medicine. The scientific advisor of Irina Gorokhova and Kseniya Balanyuk is Sergey Gerashchenko, Doctor of Engineering Science.

PSU students are involved in the scientific group of Prof. Dr. Irina Nazarenko called “Exosome and Tumor Biology”.

“In the laboratory we work with extracellular vesicles, that is extremely promising area of research in up-to-date medicine and biology. Due to the study of extracellular vesicles it is possible to discover new methods for diagnosing cancer and defining indicators of its chemoresistance. The work in the laboratory is conducted in English. Under the supervision of laboratory personnel we incubate cell cultures of cancer cells and study them using high-tech laboratory methods. We are especially impressed by operating ultra-centrifuge that is spinned up by 32000 revolutions per minute. It seems like initiating hadron collider. At present we are working almost independently without lab assistants”.

Also, the students share their impressions of the city: “Freiburg is a city with rich history. It was built in the 12th century. In many places the German medieval architecture still remains. It is the city where one of the oldest universities in Europe is located, the city where young people from all over the world study. At that Freiburg is situated near the Swiss and French borders. All this gives a special multicultural nature to the city. In addition, it is one of the southernmost cities in Germany with mild climate”.

“We are grateful to the Institute for International Cooperation, and also to the Medical Institute for providing this unique opportunity of interning in a foreign laboratory and communicating with foreign researchers,” the students noted.

A six-month foreign internship will allow Ilya Levashov, Irina Gorokhova and Kseniya Balanyuk to obtain knowledge and experience of research work in medicine in one of the best universities in Germany.