Translational & Molecular Research

Prof. Atabey completed her undergraduate education in the Biology Department of Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science, in 1984 and obtained her PhD degree in 1990. Following the doctoral studies, she conducted research at the "National Institute of Health, National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology" in Bethesda, USA. Dr. Atabey continued her research as a faculty member in the Department of Medical Biology and Genetics at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Medicine. From 2001 to 2018, she worked as a Professor in the Department of Medical Biology and Genetics at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine. During this time, she conducted research on signaling pathways involved in cancer progression and also held administrative positions such as Department Chair, Vice Dean of Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Deputy Director of Dokuz Eylül University Institute of Health Sciences. From 2013 to 2018, in addition to her role in the Department of Medical Biology and Genetics at DEU, she served as Deputy Director in the establishment process of DEU, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Application Research Center. Since 2014, she is  the National Coordinator of "European Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructures (BBMRI-ERIC)," and works on the establishment and standardization of research biobanks in the EU and Turkey.

Her research has focused on the investigation of potential reciprocal interaction of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its tyrosine kinase receptor -c-Met-  with other signaling pathways  and their role in cancer invasion, metastasis, and treatment resistance. She have published more than 50 research papers on this topic in the scientific journals indexed in SCI/SCIE and hold 3 international patents identifying molecules that inhibit cancer cell motility, invasion, and angiogenesis.

Publications: scholar.google.com.tr

Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey, the Director of the Tumor-Microenvironment Interactions and Metastasis Research Group Laboratory, is a faculty member in the Department of Medical Biology at Tinaztepe University, Faculty of Medicine and also serves as esearch group leader at Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (İBG) under partial assignment according to Law No. 6550 (ibg.edu.tr).

PhD. Burcu Akman completed her undergraduate studies in the Biology Program at Ege University, Faculty of Science, and her master’s studies in the Medical Biology Program at İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Institute of Health Sciences. She received her PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Dokuz Eylül University in 2021. As a postdoctoral researcher at the İzmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (İBG), she conducted research on the role of epigenetic dysregulation in disease pathogenesis.

In June 2024, Dr. Akman joined the İBG Özbek Lab and RareBoost Platform, continuing her work on elucidating epigenetic mechanisms in rare diseases and rare cancers. Since October 2024, she has been serving as a part-time postdoctoral researcher at İzmir Tınaztepe University, Galen Research Center, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey, supported by the TÜBİTAK 2218 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. Her current research focuses on modeling the differentiation of neuroendocrine tumors, a rare subtype of bladder cancer, identifying the molecular mechanisms driving this differentiation, and determining potential therapeutic targets.

Dr. Peyda Korhan achieved BSc degree in Biology with a first-class honor in Turkey, and  completed  her MSc studies in Biomedical Science in the United Kingdom in 2002. Her academic journey continued with a Ph.D. in Medical Biology and Genetics at Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey. Subsequently, she conducted postdoctoral research from 2007 to 2014 in the field of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) under the mentorship of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey within the same department. During her career, Dr. Korhan also served as a visiting fellow at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary, University of London, where she focused on designing nanoparticles for the cellular delivery of therapeutic molecules. Her research extended to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as she worked as a research associate at Imperial College, London, collaborating with the group from ANH International in the United Kingdom in 2015. In the following years, Dr. Korhan voluntarily worked in the research group of Dr. Robert Verkerk from ANH International, and continued  her studies on PDAC in the UK from 2016 to 2018. Between 2018 and 2023, she worked as a researcher at Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center , in the Research group  of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey. As of 2023, Dr. Peyda Korhan holds the position of Assistant Professor at Izmir Tinaztepe University, where she continues her academic and research endeavors.

Publications: scholar.google.com.tr

Dr. Esra Katkat completed her undergraduate studies in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul Technical University between 2011 and 2016. She then earned her master’s degree in 2019 and her PhD in 2024 at Dokuz Eylül University, Biomedicine and Genome Institute.

During her doctoral studies at the İzmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (İBG-İzmir), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Güneş Özhan in the Development and Regeneration Laboratory, Dr. Katkat participated in research aimed at elucidating the molecular links between tissue regeneration and cancer biology using the zebrafish model system. Her work involved comparative studies of melanocyte regeneration and melanoma pathogenesis, and she analyzed critical processes such as tumor invasion, cell migration, proliferation, and apoptosis in human melanoma xenograft models.

Dr. Katkat is currently continuing her postdoctoral research at the Galen Research Center under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey.

Yasemin Öztemur Islakoğlu graduated from the Department of Biology at Hacettepe University and completed her MSc and PhD studies at the Ankara University Biotechnology Institute.

She worked at the İzmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey, first as a postdoctoral researcher and later as a senior researcher between 2018 and 2025, Dr. Öztemur Islakoğlu’s research mainly focuses on cancer and bioinformatics. She is currently continuing her researches at the Galen Research Center and also works as an academic secretary at the İzTÜ Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Coordination Office.

She was born in 1995 in Denizli. She completed her undergraduate and master’s studies in Nutrition and Dietetics. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Okan University, Health Sciences Institute, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, conducting her doctoral research at the Galen Research Center. Since 2021, she has been serving as a Lecturer in the Nutrition and Dietetics Program at İzmir Tınaztepe University.

Born in 2002 in Konya, Gülnur Karataş graduated from İzmir Menemen Şehit Ahmet Özsoy Science High School in 2020 and completed her undergraduate education in the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at İzmir Tınaztepe University. In 2024, she enrolled in the master’s program in the same department and, since November 2024, has begun her master’s thesis research at the Galen Research Center under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey and Dr. Lecturers Merve Yılmaz and Peyda Korhan.

Dr. Gülhas Solmaz completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Biology at Middle East Technical University (METU) between 2004 and 2008, earned her Master's degree (MSc) from Yeditepe University's Biotechnology program in 2011. During her master's studies, she conducted research on microbiology, molecular biology, anaerobic microorganisms, and biofilm formation. Between 2011 and 2016, she pursued her doctoral studies at the Hannover Medical School (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover) in Hannover, Germany,  in Infection Biology Doctoral Programme, under the supervision of an successful scientist in the field of  immunology, Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser. Throughout her doctoral studies, Dr. Solmaz specialized in immunology, virology, animal experiments, and molecular biology. She successfully completed her doctoral research at the beginning of 2016, earning the title of "Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)." From June 2017 to November 2021, Dr. Solmaz worked as a Researcher at Turkish Biotechnology Institute in Health Institutes of Turkey  (TÜSEB). In December 2021November 2022, she worked as an Expert at Galen Research Center in Izmir Tinaztepe University. Since November 2022, she works as Assistant Professor at Medical Laboratory Techniques Programme in İzmir Tınaztepe University and at the same time conducts research on the tumor microenvironment and cancer aggressiveness in under the supervision of  Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey at Galen Research Center.

Publications: scholar.google.com.tr

 Born in 1982 in İzmir, she completed her undergraduate studies in Biology at Ege University between 2000 and 2005. She began her professional career in 2005 at Buca Medical Center Laboratory and continued between 2013–2021 as Laboratory and Transfusion Center Supervisor at Tınaztepe Hospital.

Since March 2021, she has been working part-time at İzmir Tınaztepe University as Laboratory Supervisor and biologist in Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey’s research group. Additionally, since 2023, she has been serving as a Lecturer in the Pathology Laboratory Techniques Department at İzmir Tınaztepe University Health Vocational School.

He was born in Izmir in 1999. After graduating from Izmir Atatürk High School in 2017, he began his undergraduate studies in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Izmir Institute of Technology. In 2022, he started his master's degree in Biomedicine and Health Technologies at Dokuz Eylül University's Biomedicine and Genomics Institute. He joined Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey's team in November 2022 and has been performing his MSc studies  at Galen Research Center since July 2023.

Ezgi Bağırsakçı Tepe completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University in 2014. She received her master’s degree from the Department of Medical Biology and Genetics at Dokuz Eylül University and completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute.

Since 2014, she has been conducting her research under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey. During her doctoral studies, she spent six months at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) in Canada.

As of May 2024, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG) under the TÜBİTAK 2218 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. She is also serving as a postdoctoral research fellow in a bilateral cooperation project with Romania, led by Prof. Dr. Neşe Atabey and coordinated by İzmir Tınaztepe University.