The Department of Physiology at the Higher Medical Institute – Varna was established in April 1962. The first Head of the Department was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dimcho Daskalov, who became a Professor in 1965. The first assistant in the Department was Dr. Gavrail Nikolov, who was promoted to Associate Professor in 1975. In 1963, Dr. Todor Ganchev joined the Department as an assistant; he later became an Associate Professor (1978), a Professor (1991), and served as Head of the Department from 1989 to 1999.
Over the years, the Department of Physiology has included among its faculty members Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Georgieva, Dr. L. Gerilovski, Dr. R. Padolski, Dr. G. Altankov, Dr. M. Kozhuharova, Dr. I. Gavazova, Dr. I. Shalev, Dr. N. Nedkova, Dr. Y. Nyagolov, Dr. V. Mileva, and Dr. E. Stancheva.
The Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology at the Medical University of Varna was formed in 2001, following the merger of the previously independent Department of Physiology and Department of Pathophysiology. The newly established department consists of two academic units.
The first Head of the Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology during the period 2001–2004 was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Negrin Negrev, MD. After his appointment as Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, the department was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zlatislav Stoyanov, MD (2004–2008). In the following years, the Heads of Department were Prof. Dr. Negrin Negrev, DSc (2008–2012) and Prof. Dr. Zlatislav Stoyanov, DSc (2012–2018).
The academic staff of the Physiology Unit continues the traditions of the original Department of Physiology, upholding the principle that the science of human physiological functions is fundamental to medical education.
Teaching is carried out in the light of modern scientific advances and is enriched by knowledge from related disciplines such as molecular biology, neuromorphology, neurochemistry, and others.
The Unit's academic and research activities benefit from collaborations with the Institute of Neurobiology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, related departments at other Bulgarian medical universities, the Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), and Trakya University (Edirne, Turkey).
