Biography
Marko Kreft is a biologist and a full professor in the field of animal physiology at the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. After completing his education at Gimnazija Bežigrad and completing his military service, he enrolled in the Biology program at the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology. After obtaining his undergraduate degree in 1995, he pursued doctoral studies in Medical Sciences at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine. Following his studies, he worked as a researcher at Educell d.o.o., then as a researcher at Celica Biomedical d.o.o., and later as a senior scientist at the Institute of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine. Currently, he is teaching several physiological subjects (neurophysiology, human physiology, functional cell biology, metabolism physiology, zoophysiology) at the Biotechnical Faculty, Faculty of Arts, and Faculty of Education. He has been a mentor or co-mentor for ten doctoral dissertations. From 2006 to 2014, he served as the Secretary-General of the Slovenian Physiological Society. Since 2016, he has been the President of the Society for Stereology and Quantitative Image Analysis, and since 2015, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the international scientific journal with an impact factor SCI: Image Analysis and Stereology.
He currently holds the position of Vice-Dean for Biology.
Recognitions, awards
In 2005, he was honored with the prestigious Zois Award (Zoisovo priznanje) by the state for his significant scientific achievements.
In 2014, he received the Commendation from the Biotechnical Faculty for being the best teaching staff member.
Research Fields
Marko Kreft is engaged in research on brain metabolic processes, brain aging, mechanisms of circadian rhythms, neurodegeneration, noradrenergic, cannabinoid, and adenosine signaling in the brain. He utilizes advanced microscopic techniques, including super-resolution microscopy such as STED microscopy, optophysiological techniques based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Marko Kreft also studies fundamental biophysical processes of biological membrane fusion. For his research, he employs advanced electrophysiological techniques such as patch-clamp. He develops image analysis methods and is the author of numerous computer programs for research purposes. He collaborates in the development of advanced cellular therapies.