Ruslan Pustovit

I graduated in Ukraine as a Veterinary Surgeon with specialization in Veterinary Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgery, and Veterinary Surgical Oncology. From 2003 to 2010, I worked in a vet hospital and also was a Lecturer in Veterinary Surgery at the university. Since moving to Melbourne and joining John Furness research group in 2013, I have been conducted research in the area of neurogastroenterology with the main focus on investigating neural pathways that control colorectal function and studying drugs that affect these pathways. I currently work as a Post-doctoral Scientist both at the University of Melbourne and at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and leads two different projects. The first project is a determining the physiological roles of ghrelin and ghrelin receptors in defecation and investigation of using of GHSR1a-agonists (ghrelin-receptor agonists) as therapies for constipation both functional and in spinal cord injury model. The second project, as a part of collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, is an investigation of colonokinetic effect of muscarinic type 1 positive allosteric modulators in animal models of colonic dysmotility. I am also involved in collaborative work with the School of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences where we study the influence of heat stress on productive animals.