Research Centre

The Research Centre of the LUHS consists of 4 institutes:

  • Institute of Neuroscience
  • Institute of Endocrinology
  • Institute of Cardiology
  • Institute of Psychophysiology and Rehabilitation

instituto-investigacion-kaunas

 

Institute of Neuroscience

Structure: 14 laboratories.

Research programmes: Functional properties of living tissue; the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors on Public Health.

Areas of research: Biomedical sciences – biophysics, medicine, public health; Physical sciences – biochemistry and metabolism.

Participating countries: Japan, United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia and others.

  • WHO projects: CINDI (Countrywide Integrated Noncommunicable Diseases Intervention), HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children), Health Promoting Hospitals, etc.
  • EU projects: GUARD (potential adverse effects of mobile phones on hearing), PINCHE (Policy Interpretation Network on Children’s Health and Environment), EMFnEAR (exposure to electromagnetic fields: study of potential adverse effects on hearing), etc.
  • Other projects: EUREKA PROPOCREAM project, COST HOME project, etc.

 

Institute of Endocrinology

Structure: Diabetes laboratory, hormonology laboratory, thyroid laboratory, laboratory of children’s endocrinology.

Areas of research:

  • Mechanisms for regulating and correcting the degeneration of multidirectional hormonal relationships.
  • Treatment and prevention strategy for regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis through immune-morphological and psycho-endocrine changes depending on the thyroid gland function.
  • Registration of children with diabetes and the influence of the immune system, genetics and environmental factors in the development of the disease.
  • Endocrine causes of infertility.

International cooperation: The institute cooperates with science institutions in Lithuania, USA and other countries, including: St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, The Public Health Institute in Helsinki and the Universities of Birmingham, Bucharest, Chicago and Bristol.

International programmes: DIAMOND (Multinational Project for Childhood Diabetes), EURODIAB (European Programme for Diabetes), DIABALT (Diabetes Programme in the Baltic States), UNICEF (Iodine Programme), GENESIS (Growth Hormone Programme), etc.

 

Institute of Cardiology

Structure: 9 laboratories and 5 research teams.

International cooperation: The institute takes part in international projects funded by the EU’s structural funds, the WHO and other international programmes.

Areas of research: The most advanced Lithuanian institution in heart disease. Research focuses on ischemic heart disease. A wide range of clinical and laboratory research activities are performed in this area.

Main objectives:

  • Assess the prevalence and risk factors of cardiovascular diseases as well as their natural history and related mortality.
  • Develop new methods of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of cardiovascular diseases and assess the effectiveness of procedures and interventions.
  • Research mechanisms that control myocardial ion exchanges, discover new antiarrhythmic drugs, develop automatic diagnosis systems and hardware for cardiologists and develop biophysical methods for the analysis of multidirectional surfaces.

 

Institute of Psychophysiology and Rehabilitation

Structure: 4 research departments, one hospital and one laboratory.

International cooperation:

  • CONSENSUS
  • NATO RTA The Human Factors and Medical Panel
  • Other international donations (ISAN/HDRF)

Areas of research:

  • Cardiovascular psychophysiology
  • Sleep disorders
  • Stress and psychosomatic disorders
  • Medical, social and psychological rehabilitation and prevention.