معرفی
Dr. Merike Vaher is a distinguished Leading Researcher at Tallinn University of Technology's School of Science, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, with a career spanning over four decades in analytical chemistry. She earned her Doctor's Degree in 2002 with research on ionic liquids in capillary electrophoresis, supervised by Mihkel Koel and Mihkel Kaljurand, following a Research Master's Degree in 1999 on red algal galactans.
Her research interests focus on capillary electrophoresis applications, bioactive compound analysis, and alternative solvents including ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents. Recent work emphasizes phytochemical screening of Estonian plants for anti-Borrelia activity, particularly in Plantago, Galium, and Dipsacus species. She has developed portable analytical devices for drug testing and environmental monitoring.
Dr. Vaher's publication record includes 187 works with significant recent output in high-impact journals like Molecules, Pharmaceuticals, and Talanta. Her research shows a clear trend toward natural product chemistry with applications in antimicrobial research, particularly against Lyme disease pathogens, alongside method development in green analytical chemistry using neoteric solvents.
- Popular science communication award from School of Science (2023)
- Publication award for work in Molecules (2023)
- Featured article in Pharmaceuticals special issue (2022)
- Member of AcademicaNet (2020)
- National Science Prize of Estonia (2007)
She currently supervises four doctoral students researching metal-peptide complexes, herb stability, anti-Borrelia phytochemicals, and pectic polysaccharides. Her grant portfolio includes the ongoing project 'Evaluation of Antioxidative and Antibacterial Activity of Plant Extracts' (2022-2025) and multiple completed projects on honey analysis, biomass valorization, and drug detection technologies. Dr. Vaher also serves as guest editor for Frontiers in Analytical Science and has developed analytical methods for monitoring dumped munitions threats.
