Igor Kovalchuk

Publications

Scientific publications

Over nearly three decades, I have published extensively across molecular biology, genetics, epigenetics, genome stability, plant biotechnology, environmental stress biology, medicinal plants, cannabis and human health.

My research has evolved considerably over that time—from early studies of genome stability and DNA damage to epigenetic regulation, transgenerational responses to environmental stress, plant biotechnology, cannabinoids and increasingly human health. Although these areas may appear diverse, much of the work is connected by a recurring question: how do genomes and organisms respond to environmental and physiological challenges?

Research areas represented in my publications

Epigenetics & genome stability

DNA methylation, chromatin, genome instability, DNA damage and repair, epigenetic regulation and inheritance.

Environmental stress & transgenerational biology

How environmental conditions alter genome function and whether biological responses can persist across generations.

Plant biology & biotechnology

Plant molecular biology, stress responses, genome manipulation, biotechnology and medicinal plants.

Cannabis, cannabinoids & human health

Cannabis biology, the endocannabinoid system, cannabinoid pharmacology and potential applications to human health.

Aging, inflammation & metabolism

Emerging work connecting molecular regulation, nutrition, inflammation, metabolism and healthy aging.

Recent publications

  • Kovalchuk, I. (2025) Genome instability in the progeny of Arabidopsis plants exposed to stress. Discover Plants, 3(1), 85.
  • Nixon, A.G., Hong, N.S., Montieth, M., Robertson, D., Golubov, A., Mohajerani, M., Kovalchuk, I., Iwaniuk, A., Sutherland, R.J., and McDonald, R.J. (2025) The effects of chronic cannabidiol administration on brain pathology and behavioural deficits found in the tau P301S-LINE PS19 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimer Disease. 13872877261421654.
  • Touahri, Y …., Ilnytskyy, Y,  Kovalchuk, I…., Schuurmans, CJ. (2026) Plagl1 controls the transition of late-stage retinal progenitor cells into Müller glia and sustains glial dormancy in the adult retina. PLoS Genetics, 22 (3), e1012020.
  • Borisov, N., Ilnytskyy, Y., Byeon, B. Kovalchuk, O., Kovalchuk, I. (2025) Multi-omics data integration for topology-based pathway activation assessment and personalized drug ranking. Molecular Omics, 21 (6), 678-689.
  • Wang B, Li D, Ilnytskyy Y, Khachigian LM, Zhong N, Rodriguez-Juarez R, Kovalchuk I, Kovalchuk O. (2025) A positive feedback DNA-PK/MYT1L-CXCR1-ERK1/2 proliferative autocrine loop in the glioma progression of glioblastomagenesis. IJMS, 26(9), 4398.
  • Ghasemi Gojani, E, Wang, B, Li, D-P, Kovalchuk, O, Kovalchuk, I. (2025) Effect of THC, CBD, THCV, CBC and CBN cannabinoids on β-cells exposed to high glucose – high lipids. Molecules, 30(9), 1991.
  • Robinson, G, Gerasymchuk, M, Zanikov, T, Ghasemi Gojani, E, Asghari, S, Groves, A, Haselhorst, L, Nandakumar, S, Stahl, C, Cruz, C, Cameron, M, Zahoruiko, Y, Li, D, Rodriguez-Juarez, E, Snelling, A, Hudson, D, Fiselier, A, Kovalchuk, O, Kovalchuk, I. (2025) LPS-induced liver inflammation is inhibited by psilocybin and eugenol in mice. Pharmaceuticals, 18 (4), 451.
  • Lopez Restrepo, D, I Kovalchuk (2025) Entomopathogenic Fungi Effectively Control Phorodon cannabis Aphid Population in Cannabis sativa Plants. Plants 14 (6), 931.
  • Ghasemi Gojani, E, Wang, B, Li, D-P, Kovalchuk, O, Kovalchuk, I. (2025) Single and Combined Impact of Semaglutide, Tirzepatide, and Metformin on Beta-Cells Maintenance and Function Under High-Glucose-High-Lipid Conditions: A Comparative Study. IJMS, 26(1), 421.
  • Sorokin, A, Kovalchuk, I. (2025) Development of efficient and scalable regeneration tissue culture method for Cannabis sativa. Plant Science, 350, 112296.
  • Cherkasova, V, Ilnytskyy, Y, Kovalchuk, O, Kovalchuk, I. (2024) Targeting Colorectal Cancer: Unraveling the Transcriptomic Impact of Cisplatin and High-THC Cannabis Extract. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 25 (8), 4439.
  • Rahman, A., Yadav, N., Byeon, B., Ilnyskyy, S., Kovalchuk, I. (2024) Genomic and epigenomic changes in the progeny of cold-stressed Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 25(5), 2795.
  • Ghasemi Gojani, E, Wang, B, Li, D-P, Kovalchuk, O, Kovalchuk, I. (2024) The Effects of Psilocybin on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation in THP-1 Human Macrophages. Psychoactives, 3(1), 48-64.
  • Ghasemi Gojani, E, Wang, B, Li, D-P, Kovalchuk, O, Kovalchuk, I. (2023) Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Eugenol in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Macrophages and Its Role in Preventing β-Cell Dedifferentiation and Loss Induced by High Glucose – High Lipid. Molecules, 28 (22), 7619.
  • Kovalchuk, I. (2023) Role of epigenetic factors in response to stress and establishment of somatic memory of stress exposure in plants. Plants, 12 (21), 3667.

Earlier landmark & representative publications

  • Kovalchuk, O., Arkhipov, A., Dubrova, Y., Hohn, B., & Kovalchuk, I. (2000). Wheat mutation rate after Chernobyl. Nature, 407, 583–584.
  • Kovalchuk, O., Titov, V., Hohn, B., & Kovalchuk, I. (2001). A sensitive transgenic plant system to detect toxic inorganic compounds in the environment. Nature Biotechnology, 19, 568–572.
  • Li, A., Schürmann, D., Gallego, F., Kovalchuk, I., & Tinland, B. (2002). Repair of damaged DNA by Arabidopsis cell extract. The Plant Cell, 14, 263–273.
  • Kovalchuk, I., Bojko, V., Kovalchuk, O., Gloeckler, V., Filkowski, J., Heinlein, M., & Hohn, B. (2003). Pathogen-induced systemic plant signal triggers genome instability. Nature, 423, 760–762.
  • Kovalchuk, I., Abramov, V., Pogribny, I., & Kovalchuk, O. (2004). Molecular aspects of plant adaptation to life in the Chernobyl zone. Plant Physiology, 135, 357–363.
  • Boyko, A., Filkowski, J., & Kovalchuk, I. (2006). Double-strand break repair in plants is developmentally regulated. Plant Physiology, 141, 1–10.
  • Boyko, A., Kathiria, P., Zemp, F., Yao, Y., Pogribny, I., & Kovalchuk, I. (2007). Transgenerational changes in the genome stability and methylation in pathogen-infected plants. Nucleic Acids Research, 35, 1714–1725.
  • Yao, Y., Bilichak, A., Titov, V., Golubov, A., & Kovalchuk, I. (2013). Genome stability of Arabidopsis atm, ku80 and rad51b mutants: somatic and transgenerational responses to stress. Plant and Cell Physiology, 54, 982–989.
  • Bilichak, A., Ilnytskyy, Y., Wóycicki, R., Kepeshchuk, N., Fogen, D., & Kovalchuk, I. (2015). The elucidation of stress memory inheritance in Brassica rapa plants. Frontiers in Plant Science, 6, 5.
  • Bilichak, A., & Kovalchuk, I. (2016). Transgenerational response to stress in plants and its application to breeding. Journal of Experimental Botany, 67, 2081–2092.

Complete publication record

A complete and continuously updated record of my publications, citations and research output is available through my academic profiles.

‪Igor Kovalchuk‬ – ‪Google Scholar‬