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Speakers

Guest Speakers

Prof. Dr. George Perry
Prof. Dr. George Perry

Prof. George Perry who holds the Semmes Foundation Distinguished University Chair in Neurobiology at the University of Texas at San Antonio is distinguished as one of the top Alzheimer’s disease researchers with over 1,000 publications, one of the top 100 most-cited scientists in neuroscience and behavior, and one of the top 25 scientists in free radical research. Internationally recognized, Perry is one of the most cited Portuguese or Portuguese-American scientists in the World. He is editor for numerous journals and is editor-in-chief for the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Dr. Perry’s research is primarily focused on how Alzheimer’s disease develops and the physiological consequences of the disease at a cellular level. He is currently working to determine the sequence of events leading to damage caused by and the source of increased oxygen radicals along with routes to provide more effective treatment.

Prof. Dr. John Hardy
Prof. Dr. John Hardy

Prof John Hardy is a world-leading neurogeneticist in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, receiving numerous accolades that include the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Brain Prize and, in 2009, being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1991, Hardy's team uncovered the first mutation directly implicated in Alzheimer's disease leading to the formulation of the highly influential 'amyloid-cascade' hypothesis. His extensive body of work in genetics will be built upon in this UK DRI programme, where the team will unravel pathogenic networks in neurodegenerative disease.

Prof. Dr. Charlotte Teunissen
Prof. Dr. Charlotte Teunissen

Prof. Charlotte Teunissen’s drive is to improve the care of patients with neurological diseases by developing body fluid biomarkers for diagnosis, stratification, prognosis and monitoring treatment responses. She is responsible for the large biobank of the Amsterdam Dementia cohort, containing >10000 paired CSF and plasma/serum samples of individuals visiting the memory clinic of the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam. She leads the Society for Neurochemistry and routine CSF analysis and the Alzheimer Association-GBSC, and the Coral proteomics consortium. She is the coordinator of the Marie Curie MIRIADE project, training 15 novel researchers into innovative strategies to develop dementia biomarkers, and the JPND bPRIDE project, to develop blood based biomarkers for differential dementia diagnoses.

Prof. Dr. François Féron
Prof. Dr. François Féron

Prof. François Féron who is currently the Deputy Director of Research at the Institut NeuroMarseille of Aix-Marseille University, is interested in neurodegenerative pathologies and psychiatric disorders and is leading a team working on adult stem cells. He is also the coordinator of the European University CIVIS and the Manager of Clinical Trials in Neural Therapy (Biotherapy Unit, AP-HM). He is internationally recognized for his scientific expertise, and his discoveries on olfactory stem cells have led him to direct neural cell therapy trials at the Culture and Cell Therapy Unit (AP-HM). His research covers topics such as stem cells, cell therapy, vitamin D, nerve repair, autism spectrum disorders, biomarkers, and molybdenum enzymes.

Prof. Dr. Hakan Gürvit
Prof. Dr. Hakan Gürvit

Dr. Gürvit played a role in the establishment of the Behavioral Neurology and Movement Disorders Unit at the Department of Neurology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, where he continues his work. He has served as President and Board Member of various associations, including the Alzheimer's Association, the Brain Research Association, and the Neuropsychology Association. He has numerous national and international publications on his research topics, which include the semiology, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, and neurobiology of neurodegenerative diseases.

Prof. Dr. Şermin Genç
Prof. Dr. Şermin Genç

Prof. Dr. Şermin Genç manages the Genç Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection Laboratory at Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center. Prof. Dr. Şermin Genç, whose main research area is the molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration and neuroprotection has many publications on neurological and psychiatric diseases that have been awarded many times, some of which are "first" studies. Research interests of Prof. Dr. Genç, who has tried to understand the mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric diseases throughout her career, include identifying biological markers for the diagnosis and prognosis of Alzheimer's disease and the role of miRNAs in the biological and pathological processes of the central nervous system.

Prof. Dr. Ali Saffet Gönül
Prof. Dr. Ali Saffet Gönül

Prof. Dr. Ali Saffet Gönül received his medical education at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. He completed his psychiatry residency at Erciyes University Department of Psychiatry. In 2002, Dr. Gönül joined Ege University Faculty of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, where he continued his brain imaging studies. In 2004, he became an associate professor and received training in brain imaging at the Louis Pasteur University Institute of Physics and Biology in France with the Charcot Scholarship. He worked as a post-doc at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory in the USA. In 2007, he was appointed as an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Mercer University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and in 2014, he became a full professor in the same department. In 2009, he founded the SoCAT brain imaging laboratory at Ege University. He served as the director of the Ege University Institute on Addiction, Toxicology, and Pharmaceutical Research between 2016-2017. Since 2023, he has been a member of the advisory board of TUBITAK SBAG. He currently works at Ege University. Prof. Dr. Gönül is one of the researchers of the international research community ENIGMA Consortium and serves as a reviewer for many national and international journals. He has authored over one hundred research articles indexed in international databases.

Prof. Dr. Çağhan Kızıl
Prof. Dr. Çağhan Kızıl

Çağhan Kızıl is a neurogeneticist, and Professor in the Department of Neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center since 2021. He received his PhD from Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology from Nobel Laureate Christiane Nusslein-Volhard’s lab with studies on genetics of tissue regeneration in 2009. His research stands at the confluence of genetics, neuroscience, cell biology, neuroimmunology, biotechnology, and drug development. He is employing advanced research models for investigating Alzheimer's disease pathology, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and novel therapies for brain repair. His contributions to science led to numerous publications, patents and awards.

Assoc. Prof. Güneş Ünal
Assoc. Prof. Güneş Ünal

Associate Professor Güneş Ünal, the director of the Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory at Boğaziçi University, completed his doctoral studies in neuroscience at Rutgers University (NJ, USA) in 2012. He worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Pharmacology at Oxford University and a Junior Research Fellow of Linacre College until 2017. Dr. Ünal's research group studies the neural circuits underlying fear, anxiety, and chronic stress in rodent and bird models. These scientific studies, which employ neuroanatomical, pharmacological, electrophysiological, chemogenetic, and computational methods, are supported by grants from the EMBO, the Science Academy, TÜBİTAK, TÜSEB, and YÖK-ADEP.

Asst. Prof. Ali Bayram
Asst. Prof. Ali Bayram

PhD Ali Bayram has been an Assistant Professor at the Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine, Department of Neuroscience at Istanbul University since 2016. He is one of the experts working at the MRI laboratory of the Hulusi Behcet Life Sciences Research Center of Istanbul University. He received his B.Sc. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Yıldız Technical University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Boğaziçi University. In 2006, he worked as a researcher in the Department of Radiology at Yeditepe University Hospital. Between 2007 and 2013, he served as a biomedical engineer at NPISTANBUL Neuropsychiatry Hospital. From 2012 to 2016, he was a lecturer at Üsküdar University. His research interests include functional neuroimaging (EEG, fMRI), signal and image processing, multimodal neuroimaging, brain connectivity, and cognitive sciences.

Specialist M.D. Ayça Altınkaya
Specialist M.D. Ayça Altınkaya

I graduated from Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine in 2009. Between 2009 and 2014, I completed my Neurology residency training at Istanbul Bilim University. In 2011, I was an observer at the AHEPA University Neuroimmunology laboratory. In 2014, I was an observer at McGill University Montreal Neurology Institute to learn about Deep Brain Stimulation. From 2014 to 2019, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cone Laboratory of the Montreal Neurology Institute. During this work, I studied Parkinson's disease, deep brain stimulation, neuroanatomy, and neuroimaging. My academic research primarily focused on the creation of a three-dimensional high-resolution histological atlas of human basal ganglia and diffusion tensor imaging. Since 2021, I have been working at the Neurology Clinic of Istanbul Başakşehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital.

Prof. Dr. Arzu L. Aral
Prof. Dr. Arzu L. Aral

Dr. Arzu L. Aral graduated from Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, completed her PhD in Immunology in 2010 and Neuroscience in 2017. She received the title of Associate Professor of Immunology in 2015 and became full professor in 2021. She worked as a visiting researcher at McGill University Centre for Neuroscience Research in Prof. Samuel David’s lab for one year. Dr. Aral is a member of Neuroscience Society of Turkey (NST), Society for Neuroscience (SfN), FENS, IBRO, Turkish National Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Turkish Neuroendocrine Society, and Turkish Medical Association, and also the President Elect of the Turkish Society of Immunology. Her research interests are neuroimmunology, inflammation, cellular iron homeostasis and glial cell immunology. Dr. Arzu L. Aral has been working in Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine Department of Immunology since March 2024.

Assoc. Prof. Atay Vural
Assoc. Prof. Atay Vural

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atay Vural completed his medical education and neuroscience doctorate at Hacettepe University in 2009 as a graduate of the MD-PhD programme. In 2013, he completed his neurology residency at the same university and continued his scientific studies at the Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology at Ludwig-Maximillian University. Since 2018, Dr. Vural has been working as a research group leader at Koç University Translational Medicine Research Center (KUTTAM) and as a faculty member in the Department of Neurology. In the translational neuroimmunology laboratory he established with his team, his research is focused on multiple sclerosis and MOG antibody disease and uses both human samples and animal models with a "bench to bedside" approach. His clinical work focuses on sensorised motion analysis and digital biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases. So far, he has graduated 4 PhD, 5 MSc students and is currently supervising 11 students. Dr Vural was awarded the Science Academy BAGEP award in 2021 and Dr Nejat Eczacıbaşı Medical Incentive and TÜBA GEBİP awards in 2023.

Prof. Dr. Burcu Altunrende
Prof. Dr. Burcu Altunrende

Prof. Dr. Burcu Altunrende graduated from Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 2000. After completing Neurology residency at Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital in 2005, she worked at Afyonkarahisar State Hospital. She received EMG training at Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital in EMG Laboratory between 2006-2007. She worked as an Assistant Professor at Abant İzzet Baysal University, Department of Neurology, between 2007 and 2011. In 2012, she started working at Istanbul Bilim University, Department of Neurology, Florence Nightingale Hospitals, and she became Associate Professor in 2014 and Professor in 2020. Between 2021 and 2022, she worked as a Professor at Istanbul Arel University, Department of Neurology, and at Şişli and Bahçelievler Memorial Hospitals. She currently works at the Department of Neurology at the University of Health Sciences, Taksim Training and Research Hospital Neurology Clinic. Areas of interest; Multiple Sclerosis and other Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases, Paraneoplastic Neurological Diseases and Autoimmune Neurological Diseases.

Asst. Prof. Büşra Şengül Yediel
Asst. Prof. Büşra Şengül Yediel

Büşra ŞENGÜL YEDİEL, completed her undergraduate education at Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology in 2014. In the same year, she completed her Master's degree at Istanbul University Institute of Health Sciences, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology in 2017 and completed her Ph.D. education in 2023 and received the title of “Ph.D”. Then she worked as a postdoctoral contract researcher at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Department of Neuroscience. Since October 2023, she has been working as assistant professor at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Department of Neuroimmunology. She has studies in the field of molecular neuroimmunology, including primary human astrocyte culture, neuron-astrocyte co-culture, cell-based assay and RNA and protein analyzes (immunoprecipitation).

Asst. Prof. Çiğdem Ulaşoğlu Yıldız
Asst. Prof. Çiğdem Ulaşoğlu Yıldız

Çiğdem Ulaşoğlu Yıldız received her PhD degree in neuroscience from the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul University in 2017. Between 2014 and 2022, she worked as a project specialist at the Neuroimaging Department of Istanbul University Hulusi Behcet Life Sciences Research Center. Since February 2023, she has been working as assistant professor in the Neuroscience Department, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul University. She has been involved in many researches investigating cognitive, functional and structural connectivity changes in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Her recent work investigates the role of the cerebellum on different types of learning and focuses on interaction between attentional processes and implicit learning.

Assoc. Prof. Deniz Ceylan
Assoc. Prof. Deniz Ceylan

Dr. Ceylan completed her medical education at Ege University in 2009 and her psychiatry training at Dokuz Eylül University in 2014. From 2014 to 2017, she worked at Gümüşhane State Hospital, and from 2017 to 2020, she was at the Izmir University of Economics Faculty of Medicine. In 2019, she earned a PhD in Neuroscience from Dokuz Eylül University. In 2021, she was awarded the title of Associate Professor in Psychiatry. Since 2020, Dr. Ceylan has been working at Koç University in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and founded the Affective Disorders Laboratory within KUTTAM in 2021. Dr. Ceylan researches the neurobiology and clinical aspects of mood disorders and has conducted studies at the mood disorder units of the University of Toronto and the Mayo Clinic. She has received national and international research presentation awards, including the Samuel Gershon Award, the Science Academy Young Researcher Award, and the Türkan Saylan Science Award. Dr. Ceylan serves on the boards of the Lithium Association and the Bipolar Disorders Association, the scientific advisory board of the European College of Psychiatry, and the editorial boards of Neuropsychobiology, the Journal of Psychiatric Research, and the Turkish Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Asst. Prof. Efe Soyman
Asst. Prof. Efe Soyman

Efe Soyman is a social and affective neuroscientist with a high-impact publication record in social and emotional processes and extensive experience with a variety of electrophysiology techniques such as intracranial recordings and electroencephalography (EEG). He is currently an Assistant Professor and the Principal Investigator of the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Lab at Koç University. He obtained his BA degree in Psychology from Boğaziçi University and his MA and PhD degrees in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. His current research projects examine the perceptual and neural mechanisms underlying action observation, imitation, automatic perception-action tendencies, emotion and pain perception, and empathy.

Asst. Prof. Elif Nedret Keskinöz
Asst. Prof. Elif Nedret Keskinöz

Elif Nedret Keskinöz completed her master's degree at Marmara University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Anatomy between 2007-2010, focusing on "Demonstration of the terminal types and synapse numbers of the Lateral Posterior and Lateral Geniculate Nuclei of the Thalamus in normal and GAERS by electron microscopy". Between 2016-2017, she conducted research on ultrastructural neuroanatomy in Prof. Dr. Alev Erisir's laboratory at the University of Virginia Department of Psychology. The article "Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural organization of the taste thalamus of the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri)" was published in 2021 based on her work. Currently, she collaborates with Dr. Erişir in various fields, especially in animal models of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Keskinöz has also been a TUBITAK project manager on Alzheimer's disease animal model. Since 2009, she has been working at Acıbadem University Faculty of Medicine and since 2023, she has been the Deputy Director of the Institute of Health Sciences.

Assoc. Prof. Emrah Yücesan
Assoc. Prof. Emrah Yücesan

He completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Medical Biological Sciences at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine. He obtained his Master’s and PhD degrees in the Department of Genetics at Istanbul University Institute of Experimental Medicine. Since his postgraduate studies, he has been working on Rare Neurological Diseases. In this context, he was part of the Turkish team of ORPHANET, a "Rare Diseases Portal," for a while. Currently, he continues his research on the molecular etiopathogenesis of neurological diseases at the Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Department of Neurogenetics.

Prof. Dr. Erdem Tüzün
Prof. Dr. Erdem Tüzün

Prof. Dr. Erdem Tüzün was born in 1971 in Istanbul. He completed his medical education and neurology residency in Istanbul University. He conducted research in Oxford, Texas and Pennsylvania Universities between 2000-2007. His research is mostly focused on autoimmune and paraneoplastic disorders of the nervous system. He is currently working in Neuroscience Department of Istanbul University Experimental Medical Research Institute.

Specialist M.D. Erdi Şahin
Specialist M.D. Erdi Şahin

Erdi Şahin was born in 1989 in Ağrı, Turkey. He graduated from Kadıkoy Anatolian High School in 2008 and went on to complete his medical degree at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in 2014. In 2020, he finished his residency in the Department of Neurology at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. During his residency, from 2018 to 2019, he worked as a researcher at the Mental Health and Neuroscience Center of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. From 2020 to 2022, he fulfilled his mandatory service at Kars Harakani State Hospital. Since 2022, he has been working in the Behavioral Neurology and Movement Disorders Unit of the Neurology Department at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine.

Prof. Dr. Erdinç Dursun
Prof. Dr. Erdinç Dursun

Prof. Dursun got a B.Sc. degree in 2000 from Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Biology. He got M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in 2003 and 2009, respectively from Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology. He worked at Rutgers, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology / Department of Neuroscience, NJ., USA in 2007 and 2011 as a volunteer researcher. He is the Co-Director of Brain and Neurodegenerative Disorders Research Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, which is the only reference laboratory performing CSF Aβ1-42, total tau and Ptau(181) tests in Turkey, since 2009. The focus of his research involves vitamin D action molecular and genetic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration, molecular aspects of amyloid pathogenesis, biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease.

Prof. Dr. Ersin O. Koylu
Prof. Dr. Ersin O. Koylu

After graduating from the faculty of medicine, he worked as a general practitioner for a while. Started physiology doctorate program at Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine at Ege University in 1992. He has been working as a faculty member in the same department since 1999. He has also been involved in the Neuroscience Department of the Institute of Health Sciences at Ege University since establishment of the department in 2010. He currently teaches compulsory and elective courses in this department and advises graduate and doctoral students.

Prof. Dr. Görsev Yener
Prof. Dr. Görsev Yener

I am a behavioral neurologist with a PhD in biophysics working on electroencephalography of dementia and neurodegenerative disorders. I completed my fellowship in behavioral neurology at UCLA in 1993. After returning to Turkey, I founded an outpatient dementia clinic in Dokuz Eylül University. I was also one of the founders of Alzheimer’s Association in Turkey in Istanbul in 1997. I served to thousands of people with dementia and their caregivers. I worked as either a site principal investigator or country coordinator for many drugs clinical trials. I was mentor of 32 neurology residences and postgrad theses on biomarkers, experimental studies, event-related potentials, behavioral/cognitive scales. About 15 years ago, I founded department of neuroscience in Health Sciences Institute. Recently, I was selected to serve as the vice chair in electrophysiology professional interest area of The Alzheimer's Association International Society and selected to European Academy of Neurology ALS and FTD working group’s executive committee in 2021. I work full time neurology professor in Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Medicine, and as guest researcher in International Biomedicine and Genome Center, Izmir, Turkey.

Assoc. Prof. Hulusi Kafalıgönül
Assoc. Prof. Hulusi Kafalıgönül

Dr. Hulusi Kafaligönül received a B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Boğaziçi University and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Houston. From 2008 to 2013, he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Since 2013, he has been a faculty member at Bilkent University. He also served as an associate director for Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center between 2022 and 2024. Starting 2024, he is a faculty member at Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Center of Excellence (NÖROM) and Faculty of Medicine at Gazi University. His research has been supported by scientific organizations such as British Academy, EU Marie Curie Actions, and TÜBİTAK. Dr. Kafalıgönül has received several prestigious scientific awards, including the KIBM Innovative Research Award (2008), TÜBA-GEBİP Outstanding Young Scientist Award (2020), METU Prof. Dr. Mustafa Parlar Foundation Research Incentive Award (2021), and BAGEP Young Scientist Award (2022).

Res. Asst. Hüden Neşe
Res. Asst. Hüden Neşe

Hüden Neşe completed her undergraduate education in mathematics at Middle East Technical University (METU) and received her master's degree from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Boğaziçi University. She continues her doctoral studies at the same institute and works as a research assistant at the Neurosignal Analysis Laboratory. Additionally, she collaborates with Istanbul University Hulusi Behçet Life Sciences Laboratory. Her research interests include neuroimaging, functional connectivity, and graph theory/network analysis. Hüden Neşe examines the functional organization of the brain using graph theory and strives to understand the mechanisms behind cognitive processes.

Prof. Dr. İlhan Karacan
Prof. Dr. İlhan Karacan

Ilhan Karacan is a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. He graduated from Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1991. He specialized in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the same faculty in 1995. He currently works at the University of Health Sciences Hamidiye Faculty of Medicine and the Istanbul Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Health Application and Research Center. His research focuses on the neurophysiology of bone.

Assoc. Prof. Kaya Bilgüvar
Assoc. Prof. Kaya Bilgüvar

Dr. Kaya Bilgüvar has been conducting significant research in the field of human genetics for over 20 years. He continues his work at the Department of Medical Genetics at Acıbadem University, as well as in the Genomic Studies and Translational Medicine Departments of the Institute of Health Sciences, ACURARE, and the Departments of Neurosurgery and Genetics at Yale University. Dr. Bilgüvar’s main areas of interest include identifying the genetic causes of developmental diseases that affect the structure and function of the human nervous system, as well as elucidating underlying biological disorders using 2D and 3D neural systems developed from patient-derived cells. His recent work has focused particularly on cortical anomalies, schizophrenia, early-onset neurodegenerative syndromes, and migraine. From 2013 to 2021, he served as both associate director and director at the Yale Genome Research Center, where he contributed significantly to numerous large-scale genetic studies and diagnostic clinical applications by implementing and developing next-generation sequencing methods.

Res. Asst. Kemal Bayat
Res. Asst. Kemal Bayat

Dr. Bayat received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boğaziçi University and currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Marmara University. He conducts his research in cellular neuroscience and in vitro electrophysiology at Istanbul Medipol University. His research focuses particularly on monitoring the activities and excitabilities of neurons, astrocytes and cardiomyocytes using electrical, optogenetic, and chemical methods.

Prof. Dr. Kemal Sıtkı Türker
Prof. Dr. Kemal Sıtkı Türker

After graduating from Ege University Faculty of Dentistry, he completed his Ph.D. in Neurophysiology at the University of Glasgow. After returning to the country and fulfilling five years of mandatory service at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, he worked as a researcher and lecturer in Adelaide, Australia, for 25 years. In 2007, he permanently returned to the country as a Marie Curie Professor of the European Union. From 2007 to 2010, he worked at the Brain Research and Application Center of Ege University. Between 2011 and 2021, he worked at Koç University Faculty of Medicine, where he established the Neurophysiology Laboratory. Since August 1, 2021, he has worked at Istanbul Gelişim University Faculty of Dentistry. He continues his studies on the human neuromuscular system by transferring his laboratory to the IGU Research Center. His research topics aim to find the functional map of the human nervous system. With this map, diseases in the neuromuscular system will be diagnosed promptly, and scientific methods for their treatment will be developed.

Assoc. Prof. Kemal Uğur Tüfekci
Assoc. Prof. Kemal Uğur Tüfekci

Assoc. Prof. Dr. K. Uğur Tüfekci graduated from the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department at İYTE in 2009. He completed his master's degree in 2011 and his PhD in 2017 in the Neuroscience Department at Dokuz Eylül University. During his PhD, he conducted research on adult neurogenesis and glial reprogramming at the University of Konstanz, Germany, with a TÜBİTAK international research grant. From 2017 to 2020, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center. Since 2020, he has been conducting research on the inflammatory mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric diseases and neurogenesis in collaboration with the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center and Izmir Democracy University. He also serves as the director of the Brain Research and Neuroscience Studies Application and Research Center at Izmir Democracy University.

Asst. Prof. Merve Alaylıoğlu
Asst. Prof. Merve Alaylıoğlu

Dr. Alaylıoğlu completed her undergraduate education in 2011 at Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology. She got her master's degree in 2014 and PhD degree in 2021 at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology. In 2015, while she was continuing her PhD studies, she worked as a researcher in the Mechanisms of Myelination and Remyelination in the Central Nervous System laboratory at the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (Brain and Spinal Cord Institute) in Paris. Between 2019 and 2021, she worked as a research assistant at the Department of Medical Biology, where she continued her PhD education. Since 2022, she works at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Department of Neuroscience as assistant professor. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's disease, and potential biomarkers that can be used in the diagnosis of these diseases.

Assoc. Prof. Mine Araz
Assoc. Prof. Mine Araz

She was graduated from Başkent University Medical school in 2007 and completed residency in Ankara University Nuclear Medicine Department in 2012. Between 2012-2017 she worked as a Nuclear Medicine Specialist in Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital. Since 2017, she has been working at Ankara University and received the title of associate professor in 2022.

Dr. Moataz Assem
Dr. Moataz Assem

Dr. Assem is a Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellow at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBU), the University of Cambridge. Dr. Assem's research investigates the brain basis of human intelligence, specifically how a core multiple-demand circuit in the human brain organizes our thoughts and behaviour, employing state of the art brain imaging approaches (Human Connectome Project style fMRI, intracranial EEG and concurrent TMS-fMRI). Following training in medicine at Alexandria University (Egypt) and biomedical engineering at Bogazici University (Turkey) and MIT (US), Dr Assem undertook his PhD training at the MRC CBU. He received the 11th Frith Prize from the Experimental Psychology Society for his PhD thesis and the Isaac Newton Trust Research Fellowship at Murray Edwards college. In parallel, since 2015, he has been involved in coordinating both the Egyptian and International Brain Bee competitions, the neuroscience olympiads for high school students.

Assoc. Prof. Müge Kuzu Kumcu
Assoc. Prof. Müge Kuzu Kumcu

After completing her undergraduate education at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Müge Kuzu Kumcu pursued specialization in the neurology department of the same university. Beginning her academic career as a research assistant, she later earned her Ph.D. and associate professorship titles. Currently, she is conducting her doctoral studies in Multidisciplinary Neuroscience at Ankara University, focusing on her thesis titled "Measurement of Upper Extremity Rigidity in Parkinson's Patients Using Shear Wave Elastography." Since 2020, she has been working as a neurology specialist at Lokman Hekim University, where she was promoted to associate professor in 2024. Dr. Kumcu's research in neurology and neuroscience is particularly concentrated on neurodegenerative diseases, movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and neuro-Behçet's disease.

Prof. Dr. Necmettin Tanrıöver
Prof. Dr. Necmettin Tanrıöver

Prof. Dr. Necmettin Tanrıöver graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Medicine in 1993. In 1995-2001, he completed his Neurosurgery specialty training at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida, Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Neurosurgery between 2001-2004 and 2007. Dr. Tanrıöver currently works as a professor at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery and continues his research in various fields, especially pituitary diseases and tumors and neuroanatomy.

Asst. Prof. Neşe AYŞİT
Asst. Prof. Neşe AYŞİT

Holds a BSc and an MSc degree in Zoology from Yüzüncü Yıl University. She completed her Master’s thesis in Neuroscience Department, working on Dorsal Root Ganglion cells. Master thesis Investigion Of Roles Of Transcription Fctors Elk-1 and Pea-3 Proteins in Axonal Regeneration and Degeneration.She obtained PhD degree from Istanbul University Neuroscince Departmant , working on ion channel effects of the antibodies on neuronal membrane. She is interested molecular mechanisms after axotomy injury in dorsal root ganglion neurons using advanced microscopic and molecular techniques. Further studies of the crosstalk with neuron and cancer cells,gold nanoparticles and gold nanorods and look at their toxicity, biodistribution, cellular localization and potential therapeutic.She works in SABITA as a researcher since 2013, she is played active role in the establisment of the research center.

Res. Asst. Nilgün Yıldız
Res. Asst. Nilgün Yıldız

She graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation program in 2021. Since 2022, she has been pursuing a master's degree in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa. Since March 2023, she has been working as a Research Assistant at Istanbul Gelişim University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation. Additionally, she continues to work at the Physiology Research Laboratory within the Faculty of Dentistry at Istanbul Gelişim University.

Asst. Prof. Nur Mustafaoğlu
Asst. Prof. Nur Mustafaoğlu

Nur Mustafaoglu is an assistant professor at Sabanci University, contributing to bioengineering program with interdiciplinary team. She holds two bachelor's degrees: one in molecular biology and genetics and the second in physical engineering from Istanbul Technical University. She also holds a master's degree in nanoscience and nanoengineering from the same university. She received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue her Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Notre Dame, USA. Subsequently, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. In 2021, she established a bioengineering laboratory at Sabanci University. Her research aims to address key health issues, particularly delivering therapeutics to the brain and developing effective health technologies for the developing world. She is shortlisted by Nature Springer Women Scientists in 2020. She received the BAGEP Young Scientist award in 2023. Her research is funded by various agencies, including ERC-Starting, EMBO, MSCA, ERANET-JPND, ERANET-Neuron, and TUBITAK. Her work has been published in prestigious journals.

Asst. Prof. Özkan Özdemir
Asst. Prof. Özkan Özdemir

Özkan Özdemir completed his PhD in Medical Genetics at IU Aziz Sancar DETAE in August 2017. Since then, he has been involved in various roles as a researcher, executive, and contractor across numerous research and commercial projects in biotechnology, medical genetics, and bioinformatics. His research projects and publications focus on rare diseases, epilepsies, and bioinformatics. Currently, he serves as a faculty member in the Department of Medical Biology at Acıbadem University's Faculty of Medicine. Additionally, Özkan holds leadership positions as the manager of Acıbadem University Biobank Unit, a Board Member of ACURARE - Undiagnosed and Rare Disease Research and Application Centre, and the Founder-Technical General Manager of GENIVA Bilişim Sağlık A.Ş.

Specialist M.D. Özlem Gelişin
Specialist M.D. Özlem Gelişin

Dr. Özlem Gelişin, graduated from the I.U. Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 2009 and completed her Neurology specialization at Istanbul University. After working at Van Regional Training and Research Hospital for 3 years, she started working in the field of cognitive disorders and movement disorders at Bezmialem Foundation University, Department of Neurology. She is currently doing her master's degree in Advanced Neurological Sciences in the Department of Behavioral Neurology and Movement Disorders at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. She has been working as a neurologist at Bakırköy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital since 2022. Her areas of interest are cognitive neurology, movement disorders, botulinum toxin applications and neurodegenerative diseases.

Prof. Dr. Özlem Yeşil Çeliktaş
Prof. Dr. Özlem Yeşil Çeliktaş

Prof. Dr. Ozlem Yesil-Celiktas has been working as a faculty member at Ege University, Department of Bioengineering since October 2007. She has also been working as a part-time researcher at METU MEMS Center as of May 2024. Her research lies at the intersection of neuronal and pulmonary diseases, immuno-microbiology, tissue engineering and biomaterials. The aim of the Biomimetic Microsystems Research Group (https:// www.linkedin.com/in/biomimetic-microsystems-biomic-research-group-397083272/; https:// www.yesilceliktaslab.com/), which she leads, is to contribute to science and society in the field of new drug targets and personalized diagnostics by using microphysiological systems that recapitulate complex organ pathophysiology in vitro.

Asst. Prof. Pınar Senay Özbay
Asst. Prof. Pınar Senay Özbay

Dr. Özbay received her B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Boğaziçi University in 2009. After completing her undergraduate studies, she earned a M.Sc. in Computational Science and Engineering from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). During her doctoral studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), she specialized in the examination of brain anatomy and function with new MRI techniques, e.g., the development and improvement of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) and its application to functional and clinical studies. After completing her Ph.D. in 2017, she joined the Advanced MRI section at the National Institutes of Health, USA, to expand her expertise in multimodal acquisitions, including the measurement and advanced analysis of behavioral, physiological, and EEG-fMRI data during sleep and wakefulness. Following five years as a postdoctoral researcher, she returned to Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Boğaziçi University, in 2022 and received the TÜBİTAK 2232-B International Fellowship for Early-Stage Researchers Grant. She established the Multimodal Imaging and Physiology Laboratory and began her work in multimodal neuroimaging. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Boğaziçi University.

Asst. Prof. Seren Düzenli Öztürk
Asst. Prof. Seren Düzenli Öztürk

In 2002, she finished her bachelor's degree at Pamukkale University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. Following this, she worked as a physiotherapist in private physiotherapy and rehabilitation centers as well as at a hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health.  She earned a Master of Science degree in Speech and Language Therapy from Anadolu University Institute of Health Sciences in 2010. In 2018, she successfully finished her PhD Program at Ankara University Institute of Health Sciences in Interdisciplinary Neurosciences. She served as the Founding Head of the Department of Speech and Language Therapy at Izmir Bakırçay University, Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research primarily focuses on Neurogenic Language, Speech Disorders, Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Brain Potentials, Oscillations, and Neurophysiology of the Language System. Currently, she is an assistant professor at Izmir Bakırçay University in the Department of Speech and Language Therapy and serves as the director of the Neuroscience and Cognitive Research Centre.

Assoc. Prof. Simge Aykan
Assoc. Prof. Simge Aykan

She graduated from Hacettepe University, Department of Biology. She completed her master's degree in the Department of Neurosciences at Dokuz Eylül University. Afterwards she completed two doctorates at Ankara University, in the Department of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience and in the Department of Physiology. She was awarded the title of associate professor in the field of Neuroscience in 2021. The same year, she worked at the Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes in Marseille. Much of her research focused on autistic traits and theory of mind in healthy individuals applying a continuum approach. The main idea behind is that psychiatric phenotypes are not restricted to patients, and substantial variability also exists in the healthy population. The second approach she is taking is the identification of quantitative biological measures (biomarkers), instead of clinical symptoms, to unravel mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. Recently, she is interested in detecting complex cognitive networks activated during naturalistic stimulus. 

Assoc. Prof. Sinan Güven
Assoc. Prof. Sinan Güven

Assoc. Prof. Sinan Güven got his PhD on Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells from University of Basel, Switzerland. During his PhD he worked on engineering large scale vascularized tissues. Dr. Güven’s postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital was focused on formation of 3D models for bottom-up tissue engineering using assembly technologies and microfluidic systems. He developed model systems, recapitulating physiological responses of tissues and organs for regenerative and personalized medicine.  Dr. Güven worked at Canary Center at Stanford for Early Cancer Detection where he applied bioengineering tools to design novel microenvironments in cancer research. In May 2015 he joined Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Institute as group leader of Therapeutic Bioengineering Lab. His current research focuses on generation organoid based innervated ocular tissues from human induced pluripotent stem cells. 

Dr. Tuba Aktürk
Dr. Tuba Aktürk

In 2022, Tuba Aktürk completed double PhDs in Neuroscience at Istanbul Medipol University and in Cognitive Neuroscience at Maastricht University. Her PhD studies focused on methods for enhancing memory by modulating theta frequency oscillations using EEG-informed transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). This work has set the stage for her current research, which investigates the effects of neuromodulation on EEG brain oscillatory dynamics and cognitive processes, particularly memory, aiming to optimize neuromodulation outputs and uncover new therapeutic strategies for cognitive enhancement. Dr. Aktürk is currently a postdoctoral researcher with the Brain Stimulation and Cognition Group at the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology & Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Netherlands, where she actively continues her studies. Her work focuses on understanding and advancing the effect of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to modulate neural oscillations and related cognitive functions.

Res. Asst. Psychologist Yağmur Özbek İşbitiren
Res. Asst. Psychologist Yağmur Özbek İşbitiren

Yağmur Özbek İşbitiren completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Izmir University of Economics in 2016. She pursued her passion for neuroscience by obtaining a master’s degree in clinical neuroscience from the Department of Neuroscience at Dokuz Eylül University, Health Sciences Institute in 2018. Currently, she is continuing her academic journey in the same department, pursuing a doctoral degree in Neuroscience. Her research primarily focuses on EEG oscillations and potentials in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. She is currently working as a research assistant at Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Medicine.

Prof. Dr. Yasemin Gürsoy Özdemir
Prof. Dr. Yasemin Gürsoy Özdemir

Prof. Dr. Yasemin Gürsoy-Özdemir graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1992, completed her Neurology specialization from Hacettepe University Department of Neurology in 1997, and received her doctorate from Hacettepe University “Basic Neurological Sciences” PhD program in 2001.  He completed his postdoctoral studies in the "Stroke and Neuroregulation" laboratory at Harvard University Mass General Hospital between 2001 and 2004, with Fulbright and IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) scholarships. Afterward, he worked as an assistant professor, associate professor, and professor at Hacettepe University Institute of Neurological Sciences and Psychiatry and Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology. She has been working at Koç University, School of Medicine since 2014. Yasemin Gürsoy Özdemir has over 80 publications in high-impact journals, including Science and Nature Medicine. She has received many awards and support such as Tübitak Incentive, TÜBA GEBİP, Eczacıbaşı Destek, Turkish Journalists Association Sedat Simavi Award.

Assoc. Prof. Yasemin Hoşgören Alıcı
Assoc. Prof. Yasemin Hoşgören Alıcı

In 2010, she graduated from Meram Faculty of Medicine and completed her residency in Ankara University Department of Psychiatry in 2015. In 2019, she started her PhD program in Neuroscience at Ankara University and is currently working on her thesis titled "The Role of Dopamine in the Regulation of the Salience Network in Schizophrenia Patients and Its Relationship with Response to Treatment". Since 2019, she has been working at Başkent University and received the title of associate professor in 2024.

Asst. Prof. Yavuz OKTAY
Asst. Prof. Yavuz OKTAY

Dr. Yavuz Oktay, Assoc. Prof., completed his undergraduate education at Bilkent University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and his doctoral education at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the USA. Following his postdoctoral studies at the Department of Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr. Oktay returned to Turkey in 2011 and joined the Faculty of Medicine at Acıbadem University. Since 2015, he has been conducting research at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology and Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG), where he leads the Neurogenomics Laboratory focusing on the genetic and epigenetic bases of nervous system-related diseases using functional genomic approaches in neural stem cell models. Dr. Oktay also coordinates the Genomics Unit at IBG. Dr. Oktay has been recognized with several awards for his successful research contributions, including the 2017 Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) Outstanding Young Scientist Award (GEBİP) and the 2013 Science Academy Young Scientist Program (BAGEP) Award. Since 2020, he has been a member of the TÜBA Young Academy.

Prof. Dr. Zübeyir Bayraktaroğlu
Prof. Dr. Zübeyir Bayraktaroğlu

He graduated from Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicinein 2003 and completed his Ph.D. in 2009 at İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Tamer Demiralp, focusing on electrophysiology, cognitive functions, and brain-computer interfaces. From 2010 to 2012, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Charité – Universitaetmedizin Berlin and investigated the interaction between the central and peripheral nervous systems in stroke recovery using electrophysiological methods. After 2012, he worked at İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine and İstanbul Medipol University International School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, established his studies on neuroimaging in neurodegenerative diseases and rehabilitation. He became an Associate Professor in 2014 and a Professor in 2020. Since 2016, he has been working at İstanbul Medipol University International School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, and since 2020, he has been serving as the Vice Dean.