The Department of Anatomy (named the Institute of Anatomy up to 1929) was founded in 1921 at the Faculty of Medicine of Belarusian State University (BSU) by professor of the Moscow University P.I. Karuzin. He organized staff and program for teaching gross anatomy and visited Minsk every month to deliver lectures. From 1922 to 1934 the Department was headed by Prof. C.I.Lebedkin who continued arrangement for teaching Gross Anatomy and Embryology and research. During those years the Museum of Anatomical specimens was founded and the collection of human and animal embryos for research was created.
For more than 40 years (1934-1975) the Department was headed by professor D.M. Golub, Academician of Belarusian National Academy of Science, Renowned Scientist of BSSR, Winner of the USSR State Prize, and 1st Honored Doctor of BSMU. Those years included war intervention, evacuation, restoration, and further development of teaching and research activities at the Department of Anatomy. The Anatomical museum and unique embryological collection destroyed during the War were completely restored. Since that time both have been taken care of and expanded due to efforts of department staff.
Prof. P.I.lobko who was a student of Academician D.M.Golub served as Department Head from 1975 to 1996. He put great energy into moving the Department to the new building in 1980, organizing scientific conferences and meetings, developed relationships with medical schools in Europe, Asia, and South America.
Associate-professor S.P.Yaroshevich, Phylosophy doctor (PhD), held the position of Department Head for 3 years (1996-1999). He paid much attention to legal and ethical aspects of Anatomy departments work and teaching. He also initiated writing and became a coauthor of the Russian-Belorussian-Latin dictionary.
In 1999 Prof. C.D.Denisov, Winner of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus (RB), became Head of the Department. During this period of time (1999-2005) substantial work on improving programs and plans in Anatomy was done, closer integration with clinical departments was achieved including questions of biomedical ethics.
Prof. P.G.Pivchenko, Doctor of Science and Winner of the State Prize of RB from 2005 to 2014 headed the Department of Normal Anatomy. He puts a lot of effort in organizing efficient work of the department to accommodate the increased teaching demands by supplying with new visual aids, introducing innovative methods of teaching and testing students. As a member of the Coordinating Council of СIS International Association of Morphologists he participates in integration between Anatomy Departments of different medical schools.
Scientific activity of the Department of Anatomy started with the investigations of Prof. S.I.Lebedkin on the structure of the peripheral nervous system that have been continued and developed by next generations of morphologists at the Department until recently. Prof. D.M.Golub was a pioneer in experimental neuromorphology in the USSR and RB. He studied and created new sources of organ nerve and blood supply to restore the function of organs with damaged innervation. In 1973 he became Winner of USSR State Prize for his works on the nervous system. Prof. P.I.Lobko continued research in comparative morphology and conducted other original experimental embryological studies. During those years physiological atresy of tubular organs of the digestive, respiratory, and urinary systems in norm embryos of humans and animals and those subjected to radiation was systematically investigated. Prof. P.G.Pivchenko continued working in the area of research started by Academician D.M.Golub and Prof. P.I.Lobko focusing on organ and system variant anatomy in ontogenesis of human and other mammals in norm and under the unfavorable environmental impact. Prof. V.V.Roudenok, Winner of the RB State Prize and Member of the German Anatomical Society, conducts investigations on neurotransmitter plasticity and neuro-immune interactions.
Since 2014 the Department of Normal Anatomy of BSMU has been headed by Professor Natalia Trushel. Her main research interests include the structure and variant anatomy of cerebral vessels and features of hemodynamics in cerebral vessels.
Professor N. A. Trushel awarded with a certificate of honor of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus and certificate of honor of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus. Research interests: structure and variant anatomy of cerebral vessels, features of hemodynamics in cerebral vessels.
Under the guidance of Professor N. A. Trushel the Department of Normal Anatomy took part in the organization and conduction of the following international scientific events:
in 2014 – scientific and practical conference with international participation 'Morphology for medical science and practice' dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the birthday of Professor Peter I. Lobko.
in 2016 – scientific and practical conference with international participation 'Achievements and innovations in modern morphology', dedicated to the 115th anniversary of the birthday of academician of the national Academy of Sciences of Belarus David M. Golub.
in 2019 – scientific and practical conference with international participation 'Modern morphology: problems and prospects of development', dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birthday of the honored scientist of the Republic of Belarus, laureate of the State prize of the Republic of Belarus, Professor Peter I. Lobko.
An integral part of the work of the Department is represented by the organization of a student scientific society (SSS), which was supervised by a talented teacher Associate Professor Yaroshevich S.P. Thanks to the active work of the staff and the SSS every year the Department conducted a University student Olympiad on the discipline of 'Human Anatomy', and from 2015 till 2017 Olympiad achieved the Republican level with the participation of teams from all medical universities of the Republic of Belarus. In 2019 for the first time an international competition, with the participation of teams of students from Belarus and Russia was organized.
The Department of Normal Anatomy of BSMU collaborates with the morphological departments of Russia and Moldova (cooperation agreements have been signed), as well as with the European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), etc. The Department of Normal Anatomy is a member of The International Federation of the Association of Anatomists.
The Department of Normal Anatomy with its facilities served as a base for 93 candidate (PhD) and 17 doctoral dissertations.
Nowadays there are 2 professors, 10 associate-professors, 1 senior teacher, 6 assistant-professors, and 1 graduate student at the Department of Normal Anatomy.