After dismissal of the Jewish staff, Khodorov joined the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery [ru] of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences.,[2] where he served as a senior research scientist and then the head of the Laboratory of Biophysical Studies (1957-1988).
Lenin Moscow State Pedagogical University, like other Soviet neurobiologists he was required to work on Pavlovian conditioning.
At the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery, the Khodorov laboratory carried out pioneering studies in the field of ion channel biophysics, recording electrical activities from the nodes of Ranvier, studying the mechanisms of C-type inactivation in voltage-gated ion channels and the effects of neurotoxins and local anesthetics on membrane excitability.
Subsequently, at the Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology[3], he studied structure and function of the NMDA-subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors, focusing on the mechanisms of gating and ion channel block.
At the same time, in collaboration with the laboratories of Dr. Pinelis at the Institute of Pediatrics (Moscow, Russia) and Dr. Duchen at the University College London, Khodorov was studying calcium homeostasis, glutamate excitotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction in neurons.