Ukrainian Public Health Expert Visits FSU to Establish Relationships and Begin Collaborations

Tallahassee, Fla. – Humphrey Fellow and American Society for Microbiology Ambassador to Ukraine, Dr. Dmytro Stepanskyi, recently spent a week in Tallahassee meeting with FSU faculty and staff across campus. The visit was arranged by FSU’s Ukraine Task Force and focused on establishing relationships for future collaborations in the fields of public health policy, biology, microbiology, medicine and many other areas.

Dr. Stepanskyi’s career has been dedicated to addressing infectious diseases and strengthening health systems, particularly in challenging contexts. He is Head of the Department of Microbiology, Virology, Immunology and Epidemiology at Dnipro State Medical University and he holds responsibilities at the national level, including his roles as a polio containment coordinator, a member of the National Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and a member of the Measles and Rubella Eradication Commission.

While at FSU, he met with representatives from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, College of Medicine, FSU Biology Department, National High Field Magnetic Lab, FSU Innovation Hub, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department and FSU Museum of Fine Arts.

“This is amazing, amazing event for me, and probably for many Ukrainians because I'm here,” said Dr. Stepanskyi. “I was here not only to represent my school or my sphere of interest of my kind of science but also, I represent my country, my society, my university.

“FSU has the greatest research lab, the greatest research community, the greatest researchers, so as a researcher and practitioner, it was very interesting for me to meet these people, to have a conversation, to exchange ideas.”

One of the meetings that resulted in possible collaborative projects took place with Dr. Bruce Locke, Chair and Distinguished Research Professor of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. During the meeting with Dr. Locke and Dr. Jamel Ali, the group discussed research into fighting multidrug-resistant bacteria. This area is an even larger focus in Ukraine since the Russian invasion and injuries suffered in combat.

“Dr. Bruce Locke, he's absolutely a brilliant professor and scientist,” said Dr. Stepanskyi. “We discussed the possibility of having a common project, an exchange of experience in terms of fighting antimicrobial resistance. 

“(FSU) has unique technologies that can help treat these kinds of patients because of the wounds caused by multidrug-resistant organism antibiotic couldn't work at one time, but these recent technologies can work very well. So, it could be an exceptionally good collaboration and unique experience.”

As with previous Ukrainian visitors to FSU, Dr. Stepanskyi was thoroughly impressed with FSU’s relationship with student veterans and FSU’s Student Veterans Center. Ukraine is at an unprecedented point in its history when it comes to the number of veterans and creating services for their returning military members is another major challenge that has developed due to Russia’s invasion.

"I have a lot of my friends who are now veterans with disabilities without legs, without arms, with severe PTSD, and they need support, but unfortunately, so far, they don't have such a great opportunity," said Dr. Stepanskyi. “FSU’s Student Veterans offers an opportunity to start a new career and have a great future. That's very important, and it's why I proposed to include this facility or this department in our collaboration with all the schools."

Other discussions about collaborations involved biweekly or once-a-month virtual lecture series, scientific meetings, or guest lectures. There were also discussions about implementing a mentorship program where FSU faculty or Ph.D. students can serve as mentors for Ukrainian students. Other discussions surrounded an art therapy mentorship program for veterans.

“I hope that this kind of collaboration would be useful not only for Ukrainians but also for the United States counterparts,” said Dr. Stepanskyi. “Our public health specialists, educators, medical doctors, microbiologists can provide unique experiences that have arisen during the full-scale invasion.”

Florida State University’s Ukraine Task Force was created in 2022 by Provost James Clark to support Ukrainian colleges and universities, explore areas of research or grant collaboration and educate the FSU community about Ukraine. It is a part of the Learning Systems Institute at FSU.