Marko Vendelin

Marko Vendelin is a Tenured Full Professor of Biophysics at the Department of Cybernetics, School of Science, Tallinn University of Technology. He has held leadership roles, including Head of the Laboratory of Systems Biology since 2007 and has been a Senior Research Fellow and Wellcome Trust Fellow. His research focuses on heart muscle biophysics, bioenergetics, and biomechanics, particularly in understanding energy transfer mechanisms and mitochondrial function in cardiac cells. Vendelin has received awards such as the 2008 National Science Award and is an active reviewer for high-impact journals and grant agencies.

Educational Background: PhD in Technical Physics (2001) and Research Master's Degree (1997) from Tallinn University of Technology. Postdoctoral training at INSERM, France (2003–2005). His work spans from molecular mechanisms to systems-level modeling in cardiac physiology. He leads major projects like "Energy Transfer in Compartmentalized Heart Muscle Cells" (2021–2025) and has managed EU-funded initiatives through COST Actions.

Research Interests: His lab investigates compartmentalization effects on kinase activities, calcium dynamics, and metabolic adaptations in heart cells. Key areas include creatine deficiency models, sex-based cardiac variations, and imaging techniques. Over 150 publications highlight his contributions to cardiac energetics and systems biology.

Grants & Leadership: Principal Investigator of €1.3M Estonian Research Council grant (PRG1127). Chair of Scandinavian Physiological Society meetings and leader of international research networks. Supervised 15 PhD students and actively reviews for journals like American Journal of Physiology and grant bodies worldwide.

Labs & Teams: Directs the Systems Biology Laboratory, focusing on integrative approaches to cardiac dysfunction. Collaborates globally on imaging technologies (e.g., CellProfiler) and software tools (IOCBIO Kinetics) for data analysis.