Member Researchers

Rector of Izmir Economy University, Izmir.

Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Economy University, Izmir.

Prof. Abacioglu worked as a postdoctoral fellow between 1989 and 1991 to study HIV envelope glycoproteins immunogenicity in Prof George Lewis’ lab at University of Maryland. He did research on the molecular epidemiology and phylogeny of HIV and HCV in collaboration with Dr Peter Simmonds at University of Edinburgh.

Department Chair of Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Tinaztepe University, Izmir.

Vice Director of Galen Research Center, Izmir Tinaztepe University, Izmir.

Principle Investigator & IBG Biobanking Platform Director of Izmir Biomedicine and Research Center, Izmir.

Prof. Atabey has a long-standing career in cancer biology and has led several research projects with a translational approach. She initiated a Biobank at Izmir Biomedicine and Research Center and as NN of BBMRI.tr, carried out activities for the implementation of biobank quality standards for biobanks in Turkey. She will coordinate the biobanking activities of the consortium.

Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir.

Prof. Cicek is working on respiratory viruses, especially influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2, viral gastroenteritis agents such as rotavirus, adenovirus, norovirus, sexually transmitted viruses and meningitis-encephalitis viruses. At EGE MATAL, she is a consultant in the development of rapid tests to be used in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, Influenza viruses and RSV. She is working on various vaccine projects. She is a member of Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Department of Virology. She is also a founding member of the Virology Working Group of the Turkish Society of Microbiology. She is currently the president of the Turkish Society of Microbiology.

Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya.

Prof. Colak has been working in the field of medical microbiology and virology. She lectures medical students, trains assistants and is also director of molecular virology tests in the Central Laboratory of the Akdeniz University Hospital, one of the leading centers in Turkey in hematopoietic stem cell and kidney transplantation. Her studies are focused on BK virus, adenovirus, especially cytomegalovirus (CMV), which is a major problem in transplant recipients. Due to the frequent kit exchanges in laboratories in Turkey, she is conducting comparison studies in CMV PCR and BK virus PCR tests where standardization has not yet been achieved. In the past, she has conducted research on CMV sero-epidemiology, incidence of congenital CMV infection, HBV, HCV genotypes and West Nile virus.

Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul.

Director of Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul.

His studies are concentrated in immunological responses to Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) and Hazara virus seeking to establish models to investigate these viruses under BSL-2 conditions. Prof. Doymaz confirmed that nucleocapsid proteins of CCHFV and Hazara Virus are preeminent antiviral targets recognized in man and various animal models. Nucleocapsid proteins of these viruses share a significant homology and his lab demonstrated immune responses are cross reactive and therefore, deserve to be scrutinized further for possible surrogacy.

Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Ege University, Izmir.

Chairperson of Medical Virology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Ege University, Izmir.

Prof. Erensoy had her MD and specialty degree in Ege University and then has been working on the diagnosis of virus infections and their molecular analysis since 1990. Selda Erensoy gained her first experience in molecular analysis, polymerase chain reaction, nucleic acid sequencing, and virus culture during her post-doctoral fellowship (1991-1993) in the Retrovirology Reference laboratories of Health Science Center State University of New York (SUNY), Syracuse. She continued her studies focusing on diagnostic virology, especially HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis in the Medical Virology laboratories of Ege University, Medical Faculty. Prof. Erensoy has worked and got responsibilities in education programs of Medicine, Microbiology, and Virology.

Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul.

Prof. Gargili Keles has been conducting diverse studies on vector-borne diseases, especially CCHFV. She served in the international CCHFV epidemic monitoring group of the World Health Organization and was one of the authors and editors of the report "The effects of climate change on health in Turkey" prepared by WHO. She is a member of the TUBITAK Advisory Board, Turkish Microbiology Society, Turkish Parasitology Society, and European Biosafety Association, and director of the Biosafety and Biosecurity Graduate Program of Marmara University as well as the National Biosafety and Biosecurity Association of Turkey.

Professor at Izmir Biomedicine and Research Center, Izmir.

Director of Subdivision of Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

Consultant of Transplantation Immunology and Tissue Typing Laboratory, and Consultant of Dokuz Eylül University Hospital Healthcare-Associated Infections and Epidemiology Laboratory of University Hospital, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

His research area is on clinical virology, rodent-borne viruses, epidemiology of highly pathogenic agents and epidemiology of health care associated infections. He is founder and leader of Hantavirus and Other Highly Pathogenic Agents Transdisciplinary Work Group in Turkey. His research area engaged in activities aiming to discovery of new viruses, new reservoirs, their epidemiological properties in the field and protection of highly pathogenic infections. He discovered more than 16 new virus strains, five new reservoirs, and evaluated several epidemics with his research group.

Dean of Faculty of Medicine,  Izmir Tinaztepe University, Izmir.

Professor at Department of Pediatics, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Tinaztepe University, Izmir.

She is a clinician scientist dealing with clinical and preventive aspects of child infections.

Professor at Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary, Ankara University, Ankara.

Prof. Özkul’s research is on molecular aspects of SARS-CoV2 virus, CCHFV s and Vaccinology. Prof. Özkul is one of the leading scientists in the field of virology and vaccinology. His excellent work on vaccine candidates and therapeutic antibodies against CCHFV and SARS-CoV2 has been published internationally. His lab is the first to produce genetically attenuated (gE deleted) Bovine Herpesvirus type 1 as a marker vaccine candidate for animal health. He produced significant output on West Nile virus including human and equine infections, virus characterization, entomological screening. He reported several variant flaviviruses in mosquito, Toscana virus infections and association with Leishmaniasis in canines and the involvement of avians in virus circulation.

Professor at Division of Medical Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

Her main interest is diagnostic virology including the application of nucleic acid assays to clinical virology, method validation, standardization, and quality control. Her current research is focused on SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics and immune response to the vaccination. She recently supervised a thesis study on the assessment of transmission chains of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers using whole genome sequencing.

Professor at Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir Tınaztepe University, Izmir.

Prof. Sirmatel has been working for many years on infectious diseases such as brucellosis, lyme diseases, zoonotic infections, nosocomial infections and viral hepatitis. Current research usually microbiologic diagnosis, therapy and prevention had been focused by Sirmatel. She made and coordinated several projects about chronic viral hepatitis.  She will coordinate research and training activities of the Consortium. As an active member of Turkish Infectious diseases federation such as KLIMIK,VHSD and EKMUD.

Research Group Leader at Emerging Viral Diseases Lab, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Izmir.

Head of the Department and Faculty Member at the Department of Biomedicine and Health Technologies, Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

Dr. Kocer has been working in the field of virology, virus ecology, virus evolution and molecular virology for 16 years. Dr. Kocer’s main research focuses on influenza viruses in terms of monitoring genetic variations in viral genomes, understanding the functions of these variations, and developing risk assessment tools for viruses with pandemic potential. She is also a Certified Professional in Biorisk Management through the International Federation of Biosafety Association (IFBA).

Assistant Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Koç University, Istanbul.

Chairman of Clinical Virology Working Group, Koc University IsBank Centre for Infectious Diseases KLIMUD, İstanbul.

Dr. Kuskucu, in particular, has great experience with molecular methods on virological diagnosis, antiviral resistance, viral pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology. Viral infections in immunocompromised hosts, people living with HIV, respiratory tract, CNS, gastroenteritis causative viruses and emerging infectious diseases are his areas of interest. In the last pandemic, he established and managed a Covid-19 diagnosis and genomic surveillance laboratory at Cerrahpasa School of Medicine. Currently, he works at Koç University and continues his research on virology there.

Assistant Professor at Virology Unit, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara.

Dr. Polat has been working on rodent-borne viruses like Orthohantavirus and Mammarenavirus, vector-borne viruses like Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Toscana virus, West-Nile virus, since 2010. Her research focuses on the molecular epidemiology and evolution of emerging viruses, as well as virus discoveries to aid in preparedness for the future outbreaks. She is recently contributing to EU-funded projects on sandfly- and mosquito-borne viruses as a consortium partner.

Assistant Professor at Medical Laboratory Techniques Programme, Vocational School of Health Services, Izmir Tinaztepe University, Izmir.

Postdoctoral researcher at Galen Research Center, Izmir Tinaztepe University, İzmir.

Dr. Solmaz’s research interest is on viral immunology. She investigated the role of a specific viral recognition receptor in different innate immune cells by using a single stranded RNA virus infection model (namely, Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV), a close relative of Rabies virus) in mice both ex vivo and in vivo.

PhD student at Department of Biomedicine and Health Technologies, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir.

During his master’s education, M. Ekin Azbazdar focused on studies involving the stability of influenza viruses in environmental sources. Currently, he is a PhD student in the Department of Biomedicine and Health Technologies at Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylul University and his PhD study is on the ecology and evolution of seasonal influenza A viruses in humans.

PhD student at Department of Biomedicine and Health Technologies at Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

Mert Dikmenoğulları focused on the investigation of variations in the antigenic genes of seasonal influenza A viruses with H3N2 subtype during his MSc studies. Currently, he is a PhD student in the Department of Biomedicine and Health Technologies at Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylul University and studies on antiviral drug development.

PhD student at Department of Virology, Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki.

Mert Erdin is a PhD student at Department of Virology, Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki and his studies focus on serological and molecular detection methods of orthohantavirus and LCMV, and emerging infectious diseases in changing environments of East Africa.