First and foremost, I would like to say that I had a fantastic time here in Stockholm, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited, and I would like to thank all of you who made this time so incredibly pleasant and scientifically fruitful. I am very grateful and obliged to all of you.
In particular, I wish to express my deep gratitude to:
Doctor Karolina Kublickiene, my principle supervisor, who welcomed me to Sweden with outstretched arms. You showed me different ways to approach a research problem and the need to be persistent to accomplish any goal. Without your encouragement and constant guidance, I could not have finished this dissertation. Thank you for all the helpful discussions we had, for your constructive ideas on how to improve our research, and that you had always time for the details. Thank you for your everyday support, for helping me so often and for always been ready to help, regardless of what kind of problems I had. Thank you very much for all your time and energy that you invested to improve not only the research but my “Swedish” life as well.
Docent Henry Nisell, my co-supervisor, for his continuous support in the PhD program, to have confidence in me, for encouragement, hard questions and insightful comments about our manuscripts.
I would like to express my best gratitude to Prof. Lucilla Poston from Maternal and Fetal Research Unit, St Thomas’s Hospital, Kings College London, United Kingdom, Prof. Jan-Åke Gustafsson from the Department of Medical Nutrition, Novum, Stockholm, Prof. David E Newby from Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom for the good encouragement and support during our fruitful collaborations.
Professors at Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge Britt-Marie Landgren, Outi Hovatta, Lennart Nordström, the Head of our Department, and particularly Magnus Westgren for giving me an opportunity to work at the Department, facilities and motivation for the work I am able to do. Thank you for creating a comfortable research environment and for comprehensive introduction to the field of Obstetric and Gynecology by sharing your expansive knowledge. I’m deeply indebted to you for the support from the very beginning.
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Li Tsai for support and possibility to do research at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology.
The half of the studies performed within my PhD program would have been impossible without all the women who showed the interest in our work by donation of subcutaneous fat and myometrial biopsies. Thank you all those women who agreed to participate in the studies as well as to the doctors and midwifes at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge for their time spending in collecting these biopsies for us and explaining for women the potential significance of our research. In particular, I would like to express my appreciation to Karin Petersson, Gunilla Ajne (particular thanks that you always remember our huge interest in women with preeclampsia), Annelie Kaldma, Sverker Ek, Marja Liisa Swahn, Teija Taimi and others doctors who have been always kind to take for us the biopsies good enough to find arteries there.
My co-authors in papers included in the thesis: Dr. Ninian N Lang from University of Edinburgh, for exciting collaboration, short but productive research, excellent revision of my English and pleasant time together in Stockholm and at meeting in Amsterdam; Docent Kjell
Hultenby from Department of Laboratory Medicine for sharing the knowledge and introduction to transmission electron microscopy and help with immunohistochemistry; Dr.
Lusine Aghajanova for help with scanning electron microscopy technique and enjoyable time at SGI meetings.
Dr. Marius Kublickas I will never forget that you had always time when I needed help (despite of your extremely busy timetable) and especially thank for all the help on the whole diversity of problems in everyday life from the very beginning and for the ongoing tremendous support. Without your contribution in recruitment of the women I would not be able to finish this thesis, at least in 2007.
Many thanks also to Lisabeth Löfstrand, administrator at our Department, for all-round assistance.
Ingrid Lindell and especially Eva Blomen from Department of Laboratory Medicine for the introducing me to the immunostaining technique and for the really nice cryosections.
My companions in the lab, both past and present, Eimantas Svedas, for opening my eyes in many different aspects of life and research in Sweden, I missed you a lot after you left Stockholm, with all my heart I wish you all the best for your career as a Clinician; Natalia Cruz, Gillian Douglas, Anton Paier, Judith Blaauw, Marlene Lindskog for creating nice working environment, for your friendship and support.
My time in Sweden wouldn’t have been so nice without support from other colleagues at Department and Novum: Mia Lindeberg, Marina Yassenko, Pu Zhang, Signe Altmäe, Julius Hreinsson, Jose Inzunza, Anneli Stavreus-Evers, Lev Levkov, Victoria Keros, Jennifer Scott, Jessica Cedervall, Ami Stromberg, Gayane Avetisyan, Karin Gertow, Sussane Ström, Juan Jesus Carrero, Anna Berglöf, Prof. Stefan Agewall (Dept. of Medicine, Div of Cardiology), Prof. Lars Arhlund-Ritcher, Prof. Moustapha Hassan and many others.
Special acknowledgments I would like to express to Inger Britt Carlsson for the cheerful spirit but mostly for the revision of my English.
I am also greatly indebted to many people in Belarus. First of all, to Professor Leonid Mihailovich Lobanok, for getting me interested in vascular research, for introducing me to the
“world of the endothelium”, and teaching me as a researcher from the very beginning.
I will always remember the Laboratory of Physiology where my research career has begun.
Thank you all who have shared with me the destiny of Belarusian researcher, for support and friendship. I’m really sorry that this Lab does not exist anymore. But I’m always happy to meet my good friends from the “Belarusian lab” and particularly Alexander Antonenko and Dmitrij Shkadinskij, thank you for sharing good time during my vacations in Belarus.
There were many very important for me teachers at the Pedagogical University in Minsk and especially docent Lisov Nikolaj Dmitrievich from the Department of General Biology, thank you for the support over the years and believing in me. My old friend docent Sheverdov Vladimir and others.
Professor Kaminskaya Evelina Andreevna for always being my great tutor to the end, she was the one who distinguished my inquisitive creature and sent me in the right direction.
I would like to express my gratitude to my Parents, for giving me life in the first place, for unconditional support and encouragement to pursue my interests and goals, for unlimited love and always being proud of what I do.
My gratitude cannot be expressed in words to my Family who saw me through all the enjoyments and frustrations of the research, while helping me stay focused on the live issues.
My most heartfelt thanks go to my beloved wife Natallia for patience, love and always believing in me. My son, Zhenya, for giving me happiness in every day, for love and inspiration.
The studies were supported by grants from the Swedish Institute, Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation; the Centre of Gender related Medicine at Karolinska Instituetet, Karolinska Institutet, CLINTEC, FoUU, Anders Otto Swärds Stifelse, The Swedish Medical Society and The Swedish Society for Medical Research, Åke Wiberg Foundation, and Tore Nilssons Foundation.