Dr. Stefan Mendt

Center for Space Medicine and Extreme Environments Berlin
Charité Cross Over
Charitéplatz 1 
10117 Berlin

Email Me
+49 (0)30 450 528 519

Already during the study of bioinformatics at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Freie Universität Berlin, Stefan Mendt joined the group Physiology in Space and Extreme Environments. In 2010, he worked there as a student employee, and in 2011 he completed a research internship on modeling circadian rhythms in humans. Mr. Mendt wrote his Master’s thesis in 2012 at Center for Space Medicine and Extreme Environments Berlin (ZWMB) about the effect of long-durtion bed-rest on the circadian temperature rhythm.

To pursue his interest in circadian rhythm and its adaptation to extreme environmental stressors like microgravity and isolation, he started a doctoral program at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Since 2015, he also works as a research scientist on the group’s numerous research topics. Mr. Mendt’s enthusiasm for processing and analyzing physiological data is a great asset to the research group. His preferred implementation tool is R, a software environment for statistical computing and graphics. He received his doctorate (Dr. rer. medic.) in 2023.

Research focus: Effects of extreme environmental conditions (in space or on Earth) on human circadian rhythms

He is currently working on physiological data of

  • farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • overwinterers of the French–Italian Concordia Research Station in Antarctica
  • astronauts from ESA/DLR project Circadian Rhythms
  • cardiac arrest patients after mild therapeutic hypothermia

Research Projects

Co-Investigator

  • DFG: Climate change, heat stress and their impact on health and work capacity (within the DFG Research Unit 2936: Climate change and health in Sub-Saharan Africa) (PI: Hanns-Christian Gunga)
  • ESA/DLR: Evaluation of circadian rhythm alterations by functional biomarkers during winter over at Concordia (PI: Martina Anna Maggioni)
  • ESA/DLR: Circadian Rhythms: Core temperature and circadian rhythms in humans during long-term spaceflights (PI: Hanns-Christian Gunga)

Publications

2022

Lang M, Mendt S, Paéz V, Gunga H-C, Bilo G, Merit, G, Parati G, Maggioni MA Cardiac Autonomic Modulation and Response to Sub-Maximal Exercise in Chilean Hypertensive Miners Frontiers in Physiology

2021

Merati G, Bonato M, Agnello L, Grevers D, Gunga H-C, Mendt S, Maggioni MA Occupational Disorders, Daily Workload, and Fitness Levels Among Fitness and Swimming Instructors Frontiers in Public Health

Mendt S, Brauns K, Friedl-Werner A, Belavỳ DL, Steinach M, Schlabs T, Werner A, Gunga H-C, Stahn AC Long-term Bed Rest Delays the Circadian Phase of Core Body Temperature Frontiers in Physiology

Mendt S, Gunga HC, Felsenberg D, Belavỳ DL, Steinach M, Stahn AC Regular exercise counteracts circadian shifts in core body temperature during long-duration bed rest npj Microgravity

2020

Maggioni MA, Merati G, Castiglioni P, Mendt S, Gunga H-C, Stahn AC Reduced vagal modulations of heart rate during overwintering in Antarctica Scientific Reports

2018

Martina MA, Castiglioni P, Merati G, Brauns K, Gunga H-C, Mendt S, Opatz OS, Rundfeldt LC, Steinach M, Werner A, Stahn A High-Intensity Exercise Mitigates Cardiovascular Deconditioning During Long-Duration Bed Rest Frontiers in Physiology

Masatli Z, Nordine N, Martina M.A, Mendt S, Hilmer B, Brauns K, Werner A, Schwarz A, Habazettl H, Gunga H-C, Opatz O Gender-Specific Cardiovascular Reactions to +Gz Interval Training on a Short Arm Human Centrifuge Frontiers in Physiology

2017

Stahn A, Werner A, Opatz O, Maggioni MA, Steinach M, Weller von Ahlefeld V, Moore A, Crucian BE, Smith SM, Zwart SR, Schlabs T, Mendt S, Trippel T, Koralewski E, Koch J, Choukèr A, Reitz G, Shang P, Röcker L, Kirsch KA, Gunga HC Increased core body temperature in astronauts during long-duration space missions Scientific Reports

2016

Mendt S, Maggioni MA, Nordine M, Steinach M, Opatz O, Belavý D, Felsenberg D, Koch J, Shang P , Gunga H-C, Stahn A Circadian rhythms in bed rest: Monitoring core body temperature via heat-flux approach is superior to skin surface temperature Chronobiology International

Steinach M, Kohlberg E, Maggioni MA, Mendt S, Opatz O, Stahn A, Gunga H-C Sleep Quality Changes during Overwintering at the German Antarctic Stations Neumayer II and III: The Gender Factor PloS One

2015

Steinach M, Kohlberg E, Maggioni MA, Mendt S, Opatz O, Stahn A, Tiedemann J, Gunga H-C Changes of 25-OH-Vitamin D during Overwintering at the German Antarctic Stations Neumayer II and III PloS One

Nordine N, Maggioni MA, Stahn A, Mendt S, Brauns K, Gunga H-C, Habazettl H, Nitsche A, Opatz O Form influences function: Anthropometry and orthostatic stability during sustained acceleration in a short arm Human centrifuge Acta Astronautica