معرفی
Nele Vandersickel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ghent University's Faculty of Sciences. Her research bridges physics and cardiology, focusing on the application of computational methods and network theory to understand cardiac arrhythmias. She leads multiple research projects funded by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) and European funding programs, with current work extending through 2025-2029 including a BOF-ZAP professorship in biophysics.
Dr. Vandersickel's research interests center on cardiac biophysics, particularly the development and application of Directed Graph Mapping (DGM) as a novel approach for analyzing cardiac arrhythmias. Her work integrates topology, network theory, and computational modeling to investigate mechanisms of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. She has pioneered methods to identify critical boundaries in atrial tachycardia, analyze fibrotic tissue effects on arrhythmia drivers, and distinguish between different types of cardiac reentry patterns. Her research has significant clinical implications for improving cardiac mapping and ablation procedures.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trajectory from fundamental physics research toward increasingly clinically relevant cardiac electrophysiology applications. Her work now focuses on translating topological approaches into clinical tools that can automatically detect critical arrhythmia boundaries and improve understanding of complex reentrant circuits. The research spans from basic computational modeling to validation in animal models and clinical data analysis.
- Principal Investigator for 'Directed networks as a novel approach for improving the management of cardiac arrhythmias' (2021-2027, European funding)
- Promotor for 'Networks and topology to tackle cardiac arrhythmia' (2025-2026, Special Research Fund)
- Administrative supervisor for multiple doctoral projects on directed graph mapping applications
- Recipient of BOF-ZAP professorship in biophysics (2019-2029)
Dr. Vandersickel actively mentors the next generation of researchers, currently supervising multiple doctoral students including Arthur Santos Bezerra, Robin Van Den Abeele, and Bjorn Verstraeten. Her laboratory develops computational tools like the DG-Mapping software package that enable analysis of reentry and focal activation patterns in cardiac arrhythmias. The research group collaborates extensively with clinical electrophysiologists to ensure their computational approaches address real clinical challenges in arrhythmia diagnosis and treatment.
