Erciyes University School of Medicine, Türkiye
Genome and Stem Cell Center, Türkiye
She earned her Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, and later served as a postdoctoral researcher. She was actively involved in metagenomics, microbiome, and bacteriophage projects at renowned institutions like the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Health Department, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Eliava Institute, and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). After returning to Turkey in 2015, she played a key role in founding the Metagenomics Division at Erciyes University’s Genome and Stem Cell Center. As a principal investigator, she managed several national and international projects. She dedicated a portion of her academic journey to bacteriophage research at the Eliava Institute in Georgia in 2016, and subsequently, at the BfR in Berlin, Germany, between 2023-2024. She is a co-founder of Enbiosis Biotechnology, which was founded as a spin-off enterprise from her laboratory in 2019, where she currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer. Her significant contributions earned her a spot on the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) – Health Sciences Research Support Group (SBAG) Advisory Board in 2019. Subsequently, in 2021, she was further appointed as a member of the General Executive Board of TUBITAK. Her team’s research primarily delved into discovering biomarkers from disease microbiomes, manipulating microbiomes, studying viromes, constructing bacteriophage libraries and implementing phage therapies. Her collection of intellectual properties includes various patents, mainly focusing on disease diagnosis using microbial biomarkers and crafting biotherapeutics.