Born
in the Baltic Sea port of Gdynia, Poland, Marek Michalak obtained his elementary
and secondary school education in Warsaw. Graduating, M.Sc., Cell Biology,
University of Warsaw, 1973, Marek then earned his Ph.D. in Muscle Biochemistry
at Warsaw’s Nencki Institute for Experimental Biology, studying under world-renowned
Dr. Sarzala-Drabikowski, a research scientist highly connected with “the
outside world.” Marek was only 27 years old when he left Poland, 1978,
to study as a post-doctoral fellow under the guidance of Dr. David MacLennan,
internationally respected as a scientist in muscle structure and function
at the University of Toronto. Upon completing his research there, he and
his wife travelled to Zurich, Switzerland, where Marek studied and researched
the role of calcium in cell physiology with world-leading pathologist and
cell physiologist, Dr. E. Carafoli. After completing his training there,
he began his scientific career at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children,
1984, moving to Edmonton, 1987, where there was a dynamic research environment
developed by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Currently,
Dr. Michalak is a Professor of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, and
a Director, Medical Research Council of Canada, Molecular Biology Division.
Dr. Marek Michalak feels fortunate to be residing in Canada where he has
been given exceptional opportunities to develop his medical research career.
In 1986, he was awarded the Young Investigator Award from the Canadian
Cardiovascular Society and, in 1999, the Astra/Zeneca Award in Molecular
Biology for investigative studies into the role of membrane proteins in
cardiac pathology. [Photo, courtesy Dr. Marek Michalak]