UNL professor offers fellowships to displaced Ukrainian biochemists

Like millions of people around the world, Oleh Khalimonchuk has watched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfold with horror and disbelief.

“It’s just unfathomable,” he said. “It’s … really hard to comprehend and process. It’s just difficult.”

For Khalimonchuk, Russia’s invasion hits close to home. Now a biochemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and director of the Nebraska Redox Biology Center, Khalimonchuk spent the first 20 years of his life in western Ukraine, having grown up in the city of Lviv.

Now, after putting down roots in the United States, Khalimonchuk, 42, is looking to do what he can to help Ukrainians seek refuge from the invasion. On Feb. 27, he went on Twitter to offer fellowships at his lab in the UNL center to Ukrainian refugees trained in biochemistry.

“As a (Ukrainian American), I can’t just stand aside while this atrocious act of Russian aggression on (Ukraine) unfolds. Happy to offer several short-/long-term lab fellowships for students/postdocs/senior scientists from Ukraine,” Khalimonchuk tweeted.

He expects to offer about three or four fellowships to people who could include graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and senior scientists.

Although Khalimonchuk said Tuesday that he wrote his tweet as “more of an impulsive move,” it has gained traction, with more than 160 retweets and hundreds of likes.

“My entire life is here, basically, so I’m not looking to go back,” he said. “But I feel like I’m in a position where I can help those people.”

Refugees from the conflict reached 2 million Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, marking the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II.

It’s still premature to measure the impact and interest of Khalimonchuk’s offer, he said. But Lincoln offers a home away from home for Ukrainians. Lincoln’s population includes Ukrainians, along with their descendants, who fled from the country when it was part of the Soviet Union.

Accepted candidates also would work in a lab that includes Ukrainian native and senior research associate Iryna Bohovych and is managed by Khalimonchuk’s wife, Nataliya Zahayko, who also is from Lviv.

Khalimonchuk indicated that the fellowships could be funded by operational cost savings from the COVID-19 pandemic. He estimated that fellowship salaries will range from $27,000 to $48,000.

“If we can help people by offering them an opportunity to work here, it’s a win-win for everybody,” he said.

Khalimonchuk said fellows could work on multiple projects related to mitochondria research and diseases linked to mitochondrial dysfunctions.

As Khalimonchuk and his colleagues offer refuge, they also keep in touch with family members directly affected by the conflict.

A UNL press release noted that Khalimonchuk’s mother was forced to seek cover in a basement when an air raid siren began blaring. The release added that some members of Bohovych’s family were living in an area that has been bombarded by Russian airstrikes. They managed to escape to relative safety in the past week.

Despite the imminent dangers their families are facing, Khalimonchuk said he and his Ukrainian colleagues cannot convince their family members who remain in the country to move away.

“Our families have spent most of their lives in an area,” he said. “They don’t want to move.”