I received my Ph.D. in 2010 from University of Heidelberg, in Germany. Thereafter, I continued my research as a postdoctoral fellow at the German Cancer Research Centre. In September 2016, I moved to Türkiye as an Assistant Professor at Gebze Technical University. Then in July 2017, I joined Koç University at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. My research interests lie in spatial and temporal coordination of cell cycle events. I use the excellent model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) to study asymmetric cell division. My previous work has contributed to the understanding of how cells assure separation of their genetic material in the correct direction during asymmetric cell division. This processes is a key determinant of the cell fate. My current research will further unravel novel cell cycle regulatory mechanisms that prevent aneuploidy and genomic instability, the hallmarks of cancer.

Dr. Yongsoo Park studied Molecular Neurophysiology at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) in South Korea, where he received his PhD in 2009. His postdoctoral training in Neurobiology was at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany with Prof. Dr. Reinhard Jahn. As of 2015, he was an Assistant Professor at Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute (iBG-izmir) in Türkiye and joined Koç University an Assistant Professor in 2017.

By combining interdisciplinary techniques that include cell biological, biophysical, and biochemical tools, my group aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms of vesicle fusion. To this end I have established synthetic neurotransmission that reconstitutes the vesicle fusion process using purified native vesicles, i.e., synaptic vesicles and large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs). Synthetic neurotransmission allows us to directly explore the mechanisms of vesicle fusion.

We are also studying microRNA exocytosis by LDCV fusion. Our research and data are opening the new field and concept that microRNA can be a novel neuromodulator, which is stored inside the vesicle and released together with classical neurotransmitters by vesicle fusion, thereby contributing to cell-to-cell communication.

I received my B.Sc. in chemistry and physics and M.Sc. in materials science and engineering at Koç University. I conducted my graduate work with Prof. Yuri Grin at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany, studying synthesis and characterization of intermetallic compounds. From December 2013 until August 2017, I have been a postdoctoral scholar working with Prof. G. Jeffrey Snyder at the California Institute of Technology and Northwestern University, USA, investigating novel thermoelectric materials. In August 2017, I joined Koç University as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry. My main motivation in science is to perform a multidisciplinary research by combining basic and applied concepts of chemistry, physics, and materials science. My current research interests include synthesis of novel functional materials, renewable and sustainable energy solutions, and electronic and thermal transport in solids.

I am mainly interested in detrimental effects of tumors on cancer patients’ metabolism and particularly tumour-driven wasting of adipose and skeletal muscle tissues. Upon receiving my PhD degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 2011, I moved to Boston and started working at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School. My studies identified PTHrP, a tumour-derived hormonal factor, as an inducer of adipose tissue atrophy and demonstrated its clinical relevance. As of September 2017, I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. My laboratory currently studies the missing link between tumors and skeletal muscle that triggers the loss muscle mass and function.

I received my Ph.D. in 2014 from Bilkent University, Türkiye. Then, I joined to University of California, Berkeley, Chemistry Department as a Postdoctoral Fellow. After a short industry experience, I joined to Koc University as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry in September 2017.

My research lies in interdisciplinary approaches within the field of synthetic organic chemistry, chemical biology and bio-organic chemistry. My current research interests particularly focus on development of small-molecule based fluorescent probes for bio-imaging, design of activatable photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy as well as preparation of drug delivery and theranostic (therapy + diagnosis) systems.

I did my doctoral studies at the University of Zurich. After the PhD i worked from 2013 to 2015 as a lecturer. From 2015 to 2017 i was a post-doc at the EPFL. I joined the Koç University in September 2017 as an assistant professor of mathematics.

My research interests lie in partial differential equations. Especially geometric aspects of the incompressible Euler equations. These are the governing equations for incompressible perfect fluids. Using geometric methods i try to figure out the dynamics of these equations. I hope to make some contribution to the understanding of the Euler equations.