Teaching activity:
Members of the Department teach at the Undergraduate and Graduate University Study of Nursing, the Undergraduate and Graduate University Study of Physiotherapy, and the Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Study of Dental Medicine.
Human physiology is a science that aims to explain the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions responsible for the origin, development, and maintenance of life. The Physiology course enables students to gain knowledge about the normal function of the organism by applying previously acquired knowledge from physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry and normal morphology (anatomy and histology). Through the teaching process, the students are being prepared for independent problem solving and integrative thinking in the field of health, as well as for understanding the response and adjustment of individual physiological functions of the organism to changing conditions of the external environment. The course focuses on learning about basic and applied physiology, i.e. on the vertical extension of knowledge acquired by explaining basic physiological functions. Through lectures and seminars, the aim is to enable students to understand the physiological processes of the organism and homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the integrity and individuality of the organism as an open system in interaction with the environment. The objective is to develop the students' ability to apply physiological knowledge in pathophysiology and clinical medicine.
The exercise segment of the course aims to demonstrate the knowledge of physiological processes acquired during lectures and seminars, to develop practical skills for measuring basic physiological parameters, and to prompt the understanding of the conducted procedure and the acquiring of knowledge of interpreting results. By mastering the content of the course, the students will gain knowledge of physiological functions of the organism, understand the body processes and keep them healthy, and will acquire basic skills of measuring and interpreting results of measuring various physiological parameters.
Pathophysiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the integrative, clinically oriented study of the etiology, pathogenesis, and natural course of health disorders. The Pathophysiology course includes the acquisition of knowledge in general pathophysiology and knowledge in the field of dysfunction of individual organ systems. Through the course, students are introduced to the etiopathogenetic mechanisms that lead to dysfunction and disease, developing a sense of the integral approach to the pathological process and the patient. Such an approach provides a reliable basis for a rational approach to the diagnosis and treatment of individual conditions and the integration of theoretical and clinical-diagnostic data on the course of the disease. The ultimate goal of the course is to enable students to understand the clinical picture of patients and prepare them for the clinical part of the study and clinical practice based on understanding the characteristic pathophysiological developments of individual functional units and the entire organism of the patient.
Clinical Propaedeutics as an introduction to clinical subjects extends the knowledge acquired through the Pathophysiology course and forms a bridge that connects preclinical education with clinical medicine. Through the course, students meet the patient, his/her symptoms and signs of the disease, learn and apply the methods of physical examination and anamnesis or heteroanamnesis, and learn the ways that lead the doctor to diagnose the disease. After completing the course, students will be able to apply the methods of clinical examination, recognise the symptoms and signs of the disease, assess the severity of the patient's clinical condition, review the leading diagnosis, recommend the most appropriate diagnostic methods and construct conclusions for further clinical treatment.
Clinical medicine consists of a group of different clinical branches dealing with the diagnosis and therapy of various diseases. Internal medicine is the largest branch of clinical medicine. The aim of the course is to enable students to recognise the symptoms and signs of internal diseases and their complications. After completing the course, students will be able to explain the etiopathogenesis of internal diseases and connect it with the clinical manifestation, recommend diagnostic tests and treatment of internal diseases (acute and chronic).
Scientific activity:
The scientific research work of the members is related to vascular physiology, i.e. the functional and biochemical study of endothelial function and dysfunction (with emphasis on microvascular function) in response to various factors, such as excessive salt intake, intake of functional foods enriched with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, hypertension, etc. Other scientific interests include hyperbaric medicine, sports physiology, and exercise interventions.
Within the Laboratory for Translational Medicine, research is conducted in pathophysiology related to the prevention of obesity as a disorder characterised by hyperplasia and hypertrophy of adipocytes due to dysregulation of the process of adipogenesis at the cellular level. The effect of metabolic stress on the lipid profile of rat nervous tissue and the characterisation of the composition of lipid rafts in mouse models with excluded genes for glycolipid synthesis and catabolism are also explored. Teachers are also involved in research work related to internal organ diseases, oncological diseases, mental disorders and public health problems.
The members of the Department are trained to conduct research on animal and human models. They carry out their scientific research work as leaders and associates on scientific projects financed by institutional multi-year science funding (VIF), projects of the Croatian Science Foundation, and scientific centres of excellence. The results of the research are published in indexed scientific publications and presented at international congresses. Members of the Department also cooperate with students of the Faculty, mainly through active participation in the implementation of various activities to popularise science. In addition to intensive teaching and research activities, members of the Department participate in the organisation of numerous domestic and international conferences and courses, and are members of the editorial boards of several scientific journals.
Head of department
Professor Davorin Đanić, Ph.D.
Teachers and associates
Professor Aleksandar Včev, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Marko Boban, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Anita Matić, Ph.D.
Senior Assistant Jelena Jakab, Ph.D.
Senior Assistant Nikola Volarić, Ph.D.
Teaching Assistant Marin Kuharić
Teaching Assistant Dunja Igrec
External collaborators
Professor Sven Kurbel, Ph.D.
Professor Ljiljana Majnarić, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Ivana Pajić Matić, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Jelena Knežević, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Saša Missoni, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Natalija Novokmet, Ph.D.
Teaching Assistant Luka Malenica
Visiting professors
Professor Emeritus Nikola Grujić, Ph.D. (Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia)