By Dr Oksana Zayachkivska MD, PhD, DSc
American University of Health Sciences, Signal Hill, California, USA
Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine
Member of The Ukrainian Physiological Society, member and representative of the Physiology Society (registered in UK and EU), The Shevchenko Scientific Society, The American Physiology Society.
Research interests: Metabolic, GI Physiology, stress resilience, cytoprotection and repair, history of physiology, innovative educational technologies in medical higher education.
Dr. Oksana Zayachkivska was a 2025 Paton Historical Studies Fund recipient. We followed up with Oksana to find out more about her project and the outcomes.
From Big Idea to Eustress and Resilience: The Hidden History Behind 90 Years of Stress Physiology
The 90th anniversary of stress theory in 2026 invites not only celebration but correction. Despite the field’s enormous clinical reach from PTSD treatment to metabolic medicine, the 20th-century scientific culture that produced its foundational discoveries remains largely unexamined. This study addresses that gap, tracing how Selye’s core concept of stress transformed into physiological resilience was shaped by mentorship, international collaboration, and institutional networks that secondary literature has consistently overlooked. Drawing on primary sources from the Salk Institute, UCLA Special Collections, and European archives, it reconstructs the human infrastructure behind one of physiology’s most consequential ideas.
My path to this research began with an earlier Paton Fund project in 2016, which examined Leon Popielski’s discovery of histamine’s role in gastric acid secretion. That work deepened my respect for the Physiological Society’s commitment to preserving the history of physiology and planted the seed for what followed [1]. When I applied for new funding in 2025, my aim was to recover a specific forgotten thread: the early understanding of what Selye would later call the “morphologic triad of stress”: adrenal hypertrophy, gastric erosions, and thymo-lymphatic atrophy, and to trace how that concept evolved through the collaborative networks Selye built across decades.
In 1936, a young Viennese-born endocrinologist published a single-page letter in Nature that would reshape medicine: Hans Selye’s description of the “general adaptation syndrome” launched the modern science of stress [2]. Selye introduced the term “eustress” in his final scientific books, Stress without Distress (1974) and Stress in Health and Disease (1976), and what he described is now called stress resilience. Having personally experienced war and forced relocation, I came to this topic with more than scholarly interest. As 2025 approached the 50th anniversary of Selye’s founding of the International Institute of Stress at McGill University, it offered an unmissable opportunity to revisit these ideas and reconnect them to the present.
The outcomes exceeded my initial expectations. Academically, I presented findings at the 10th International Summer School on Stress in Vienna (2025), reaching an international audience of researchers and clinicians during the very anniversary year the work was designed to honor. The research has been integrated into faculty discussions at my institution and is being prepared for journal publication to ensure wider dissemination.
More importantly, the research fundamentally repositions stress resilience science within its proper historical context. It demonstrates that breakthrough discoveries don’t emerge in isolation but through collaborative, cross-cultural networks, a lesson urgently relevant for addressing today’s complex health challenges. By revealing how Selye’s “brainchild” was developed by his fellows, I’ve shown how mentorship and interdisciplinary thinking multiply impact across decades, shaping our current understanding of PTSD, metabolic disorders, and neuroplasticity.
This project has opened multiple pathways forward. I am still collecting oral histories from former Selye students and their institutions and have created a network for collaborative historical research on stress science that will continue beyond this initial grant period. These voices will be showcased digitally and made accessible as educational tools, helping students understand why systems-based, collaborative methods matter in modern medicine.
The Paton Fund’s Role
The Paton Historical Studies Fund was crucial to this project’s success. Without it, the research would have remained theoretical. Beyond the funding itself, the Fund’s endorsement affirmed the significance of historical research in advancing physiological science and that legitimacy opened real doors. It supported activities that other funding sources simply would not cover accessing rare archives at the Salk Institute, where Guillemin’s papers are held; exploring UCLA’s Special Collections for historical stress research; and retrieving photographs and documents from European museums and libraries. The Physiological Society’s backing underscored the scholarly importance of this historical recovery at every step.
Advice for Future Applicants
For those considering applying to the Paton Historical Studies Fund, my advice is straightforward.
Be clear about the historical gap you’re addressing and why it matters today. Don’t simply propose studying a historical figure; explain how understanding their work will reflect contemporary science or practice.
Budget realistically. Archive visits, document reproduction, and travel consistently cost more than anticipated. Build in contingency for unexpected opportunities that arise mid-research.
Establish connections before applying. Institutional ties or access to private archives can significantly strengthen a proposal. My existing relationships with former Selye students proved invaluable throughout.
Think beyond publication. Consider how your historical research can serve education, public understanding, or professional development. The Paton Fund values work that enriches the entire Physiological Society community.
Embrace the detective work. Historical research is about piecing together fragments into coherent narratives. The primary sources, as original correspondence, photographs, institutional records bring the story to life in ways that secondary literature never can. If you are energized by that process, this work will be deeply rewarding.
The Paton Historical Studies Fund doesn’t simply support research; it preserves the intellectual heritage of physiology. Every modern stress researcher stands on Selye’s shoulders, whether they know it or not. I am honored to have contributed to that mission.
References
Zayachkivska O. Leon Popielski and his discovery that histamine stimulates gastric acid secretion. Physiology News. Spring 2017 Issue Number 106. https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.106.38
Selye, H. A Syndrome produced by Diverse Nocuous Agents. Nature 138, 32 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138032a0
Zayachkivska O. The “Wiener Schmäh” in stress resilience: From Selye to Nobelists Guillemin (1977) and Kandel (2000). In: Program and Abstracts of the 10th International Summer School on Stress: SEMART (Stress Education, Management and Resilience Training); June 2-6, 2025; Vienna, Austria.