From the Heart to Science: 65th Anniversary of Professor Irina Alekseevna Odintsova

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Irina Alekseevna Odintsova (Fig. 1) was born on June 28, 1960, in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk region, USSR. She spent her childhood and early school years in Ivdel, a small town in the Ural Mountains named after the nearby Ivdel River. The family moved around a lot because Irina’s father, Aleksey Tikhonovich, was in the military. She changed schools, made new friends, and met new teachers. These experiences shaped her personality. She then spent several interesting and eventful years as a student at the Leningrad Public Health Institute, which is now known as the North-Western State Medical University named after I. I. Mechnikov. After graduating from university in 1983, the young alumna began working in the Department of Histology and Embryology at the Kirov Military Medical Academy. This academy would play a central role in her future career. Irina advanced up the career ladder, progressing from senior laboratory assistant to teacher, then associate professor, professor, and finally, the head of the department. Professor Alexey Andreevich Klishov was Irina’s first supervisor and mentor. Under his guidance, she developed her teaching skills and launched her career in scientific research. In 1984, Irina started her full-time postgraduate studies in the Department of Histology and Embryology at the Kirov Military Medical Academy. She successfully defended her thesis titled “Ultrastructural Organization, Differentiation, and Reactive Changes of Glandulocytes in the Gastric Mucosa Epithelium” and earned her degree of Candidate of Sciences (Medicine) in 1989. Professor Revkhat Konstantinovich Danilov, one of Irina’s teachers, became her academic advisor for her thesis for the Doctor of Sciences (Medicine) degree. In 1991, he succeeded his teacher, Professor Klishov, as the Head of the Department of Histology and Embryology at the Kirov Military Medical Academy. This line of research expands traditional evolutionary histological studies of histogenesis and tissue regeneration. These studies were founded by our distinguished predecessors and department heads, including Alexey Zavarzin, Nikolay Khlopin, and Serafim Shchelkunov. At that time, Irina Odintsova was conducting experimental histological studies to evaluate tissue regeneration following mechanical and gunshot injuries. This work resulted in a thesis titled “Regenerative Histogenesis in a Musculocutaneous Injury: An Experimental Histological Study” for the Doctor of Sciences (Medicine) degree, which she defended in 2005. Irina was awarded the academic degree of Doctor of Sciences (Medicine) in 2005 and the academic status of Professor in 2009. Current research interests of Professor Odintsova include histogenesis and tissue regeneration, the functional organization of histogenesis after musculocutaneous injury from gunshots, and intertissue correlations.

Fig. 1. Professor Irina Alekseevna Odintsova, 2025. Photo by the authors.

In 2011, Professor Odintsova became the head of the Department of Histology and Embryology at the Kirov Military Medical Academy, where she had started her career immediately after graduating. She is now a teacher and mentor. Her students are candidates and doctors of sciences with academic statuses. Under the guidance of Professor Odintsova, a supportive and hardworking team was formed that continues to uphold the histological research traditions of the Kirov Military Medical Academy. However, Professor Odintsova is constantly expanding her area of research and setting ambitious new goals for her department faculty. During her years as Head of the Department, she has proven herself to be a talented researcher and a wise mentor, capable of finding creative solutions to management and research issues. Professor Odintsova continues to drive the development of comparative embryological research. She is also working to create a course titled “Medical Embryology with the Basics of Teratology” for senior medical students.

Professor Odintsova is involved not only in research, but also in extensive educational initiatives. She started the tradition of holding national histological conferences and academic meetings at prominent venues across St. Petersburg and within the department. These events became highly anticipated and unconventional for the entire Russian histological community.

The high level of activity of Professor Odintsova is evident from her large number of publications, including over 200 papers such as monographs and textbooks. She is the editor of a compendium of papers from Russian histological congresses, that is published under the title “Morphology Issues in the 21st Century” (Voprosy morfologii XXI veka). Professor Odintsova also presents at scientific conferences and congresses hosted by other Russian medical universities. She is a member of the Academic Council of the Kirov Military Medical Academy and Thesis Committee 07.2.002.09. She also serves on the Board of the Medical Research Council of Anatomists, Histologists, and Embryologists and on the editorial boards of “Morphology” and “Genes & Cells” journals. Professor Odintsova serves as a reviewer and official opponent of theses for candidates and doctors of science.

This year, we are celebrating two notable events: Irina’s birthday and 42 years of her dedicated service to the Kirov Military Medical Academy. Many of her graduates now serve in the Academy’s Command. Professor Odintsova has received numerous departmental and national awards and honors in recognition of her professionalism, including the For Zealous Labor and For Comradeship-in-Arms awards.

The department faculty not only recognizes Professor Odintsova’s achievements, but also expresses gratitude for her contributions to our shared goals. Her highest standards for herself and her colleagues have become proverbial. Irina is the perfect example of a researcher who is passionate about science and eager to share her knowledge and experience with future teachers and military doctors.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Author contributions: All the authors approved the version of the manuscript to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. R.K. Danilov: conceptualization, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing; D.R. Slutskaya: writing—original draft, writing—review & editing (literary editing); T.I. Berezovskaya: writing —original draft, visualization.

Funding sources: No funding.

Disclosure of interests: The authors have no relationships, activities, or interests for the last three years related to for-profit or not-for-profit third parties whose interests may be affected by the content of the article.

About the authors

Revkhat K. Danilov

Email: rd-08@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0009-2060-4753
SPIN-code: 3550-5671

Dr. Sci. (Medicine), Professor

Dina R. Slutskaya

Author for correspondence.
Email: dina_hanieva@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3910-2621
SPIN-code: 2546-9393

Cand. Sci. (Biology), Associate Professor

Tatyana I. Berezovskaya

Email: lapi2@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0009-1591-9152
SPIN-code: 2508-7042
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

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