The cooperation agreement beetwen the university of l'Aquila, Italy and the Marat Ospanov west-Kazakistan stare medical university, the republic of Kazakistan: a successful story fron academy to bench

During the spring-summer of 2014, the first exchange program foreseen the research mobility from Kazakhstan to Italy. An academic staff member and a PhD student of the Marat Ospanov WestKazakhstan State Medical University spent three months of research internship to the Laboratories of Reproductive Biotechnology, University of L’Aquila. The research topic focused on one of the most dramatic environmental problems, the desiccation of the Aral Sea, which is having serious effects on the human health due to the consequent abuse of pesticides for agricultural purposes. The project, activated in the framework of the Cooperation Agreement, was finalized to study the female reproductive toxicity, with a morphological approach, of one of the most persistent pesticide found in the Aral Sea area, the γ-exachloroexane or Lindane. Thank to the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy of the Centre for Electron Microscopies, University of L’Aquila and the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy “Pietro Motta”, La Sapienza University of Rome, it have been producing evidences of the dose-dependant harmful effects against granulosa cells and oocytes in mammals. Part of results has been used for an undergraduate thesis and a PhD dissertation. The study is still ongoing but preliminary results have been diffused to national (Italian) and international Congresses as oral communication and poster presentations. Manuscripts to be submitted in peer reviewed journals are in preparation.