Chair of Neurology

Objectives

·         Training students, interns, and residents in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of nervous system diseases;

·         Providing training for master's and PhD students;

·         Developing teaching manuals for students and residents, and guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases;

·         Offering advisory and methodological assistance to medical institutions in Astana and across the Republic of Kazakhstan;

·         Meeting the needs of healthcare facilities with qualified and competitive specialists;

·         Promoting the professional development of teaching staff and enhancing the scientific potential of the department;

·         Improving the quality and effectiveness of the educational process within the department;

·         Implementing innovative teaching methods in the department’s disciplines;

·         Conducting scientific research in areas such as angioneurology, somatoneurology, neurodiabetology, neuroimmunology, neurogenetics, and pediatric neurology, with a focus on advancing the diagnosis and treatment of nervous system diseases, and participating in international scientific projects;

·         Participating in national and international conferences and congresses.

History of creation

In 1967, the Department of Neurological Diseases, including a course in neurosurgery, was first established at the Tselinograd State Medical Institute. The department was initially led by neurosurgeon Anatoly Viktorovich Chevalier, a Candidate of Medical Sciences, who was invited from Tartu. From 1974 to 1994, the department was headed by neurologist and Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Mikhail Aronovich Farber. Between 1994 and 1998, the department was led by Associate Professor Alexander Stepanovich Udovichenko, a Candidate of Medical Sciences. From 1998 to 2009, the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology, which included a course in psychiatry, was headed by neurosurgeon and Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Zhomart Mukanovich Ermekov. From 2009 to 2019, the Department of Neurology was led by Professor Tlepkali Temirovich Bokebaev, a Doctor of Medical Sciences and a student of Academician SmagulKayshibaevichKayshibaev. In September 2019, the two departments of NJSC AMU—the Department of Neurology and the Department of Neuropathology, which included courses in Psychiatry and Narcology—were merged.

Activities

The training of bachelor's students, interns, and residents is conducted at various clinical bases across Astana. The department's staff also provides medical and advisory services at all these clinical bases.

The department's main areas of scientific research include the study of cognitive disorders in encephalopathies of various origins, angioneurology, neurovegetology in somatic pathology, somnology, epilepsy, neuromuscular diseases, as well as neurodegenerative, demyelinating, and orphan diseases in children. Additionally, the department focuses on issues in electroneurophysiology, such as electroencephalography, electromyography, and polysomnography.

Achievements

The academic staff of the department includes 1 Doctors of Medical Sciences, 5 Candidates of Medical Sciences, 3 PhDs, and 5 Masters of Medical Sciences.

Currently, about 20 second-year residents and one second-year PhD student are studying at the department.

            Since the residency program was established in 2009, more than 90 residents have graduated. The department launched a master’s degree program in 2013 and a doctoral program in 2014. In addition to postgraduate training, the department also offers advanced training courses for doctors.

• The work of the 2-nd year PhD student Kyrgyzbai G. "The effect of botulinum toxin type A on various clinical forms of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in patients with chronic migraine is being carried on."

•  Training courses for doctors in adult and pediatric neurology, including those mandated by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Foundation of the First President.

•  A seminar titled "Modern view on the problem of neuroinflammatory diseases of the nervous system" was conducted with the participation of Erkingul Birday, Professor of the Department of Neurology of Istanbul Medipol University (December 5-10, 2022)

•  A seminar on neuroinfection issues was successfully held with the participation of Professor Bembeyev R.Ts. (Moscow) in January 2023.

•  An international master class on autoinflammatory diseases in the context of differential diagnosis (spectrum of white matter diseases, including NMOSD) was successfully held with the participation of Kevin Rostasy, President of the European Society of Pediatric Neurologists in February 2024.

•  Since 2021, the department has been holding an expert advisory council on neuromuscular diseases, where all patients of this profile in Kazakhstan are analyzed.

•  The Student Scientific Society is active within the department. According to the plan, members of the club prepare speeches, present reports, and discuss topical issues monthly.

•  Over the past 5 years, the staff of the department has prepared educational and methodological works: a) Methodological Recommendations for Doctors—A Collection of Cases of Neuromuscular Diseases: An Educational and Practical Systematic Approach. Astana, 2023 b) Handbook of a Pediatric Neurologist. Astana, 2023 c) Methodological Recommendations for Neurologists, General Practitioners, Resident Neurologists, and Family Medicine Residents—Migraine in Adults: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention (in two languages). Astana, 2023 d) Educational Visual Aid for Students—General Neurology in Diagrams and Tables (in three languages). Nur-Sultan, 2019.

•  The department actively implements innovative teaching methods for students and residents, including CBL, TBL, PBL, RBL. 

•  For the past five years, the department has been running a journal club for residents, where participants prepare articles from scientific journals on pre-determined topics, which are then reported and discussed in the group.

•  SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF THE TEACHING STAFF ARE PUBLISHED IN SUCH JOURNALS AS: LANCET PUBLIC HEALTH; LANCET NEUROLOGY; PLOS ONE; ARCHIVES OF RAZI INSTITUTE; EUROPEAN STROKE JOURNAL; INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STROKE; INT. J. ENVIRON. RES. PUBLIC HEALTH, FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY, JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE OF KAZAKHSTAN, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH, ^14TH EUROPEAN PAEDIATRIC NEUROLOGY SOCIETY CONGRESS ABSTRACTS, GEORGIAN MEDICAL NEWS, THERAPEUTIC BULLETIN OF UZBEKISTAN, SCIENCE & HEALTHCARE, JOURNAL OF HEALTH DEVELOPMENT; RESEARCH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES; JOURNAL NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY S.S.KORSAKOVA, "VALEOLOGY: DENSAULYK-AURA-SAUKTYRU", ASTANA MEDICAL JOURNALS; "NEUROSURGERY AND NEUROLOGY OF KAZAKHSTAN".

•  The department's scientific projects include the "National Program for the Introduction of Personalized and Preventive Medicine in the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2021-2023," which involves research on "The Role of Genetic Factors in the Development of Epilepsy in Young Children in the Kazakh Population."

•  A program for the molecular genetic diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) in pediatric patients in Kazakhstan, running from 2022 to 2025.

•  A scientific grant awarded for the project "Identification and Characterization of the Molecular Basis of Neurogenetic Disorders and Synaptopathies in Kazakhstan," as part of the agreement dated November 5, 2019, with University College London, Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Neurogenetics Unit (UCL)/AMU. This project is led by Dzhaksybayeva A.H., Takhanova M.T., Ibragimova A.A., Akhtanova D.T., Nauryzbayeva A.A., Khamzina A.N., Baigazieva L.B., and Chunkaeva D.D.

•  A prospective single-center study aiming to determine the prevalence of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency in a population of patients with symptoms of cerebral palsy and developmental delay of unknown etiology in Kazakhstan.

•  The annual Republican Conference on Neurology with international participation, titled "Management of Neurological Diseases, Including Orphan Diseases."
  

Contact information

Clinical bases of the department:

•  National Center for Children's Rehabilitation, 36 Turan Ave.,

• Jaxybaeva.a@amu.kz

•  Multidisciplinary Children's City Hospital No. 3, 12 RyskulovSt.

•  Multidisciplinary city hospital №1, 66 Koshkarbayev St.

•  Branch of the Joint Stock Company "Railway Hospitals for Emergency Medicine" - "Central Road Hospital" - Department of Neurology

•  City Children's Hospital №1, 11/1 Tauelsyzdyk St.

•  Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 47а Beibitshilik St.

•  MIA Hospital, Department of Neurology, 66 Kabanbaibatyr Ave.

•  Multidisciplinary regional hospital №2, 22 Manas St.

•  The multidisciplinary medical center, 17 Manas St.

•  Medical centre "Unimed+", 2 Anet Baba St.