Ayça Arslan Ergül – PI 
Elif Akış – MSc Student 
Tuba Sena Oğurlu – MSc Student 
Elif Sena Temirci – MSc Student 
Ceylin Çetinkaya – MSc Student 
Ayşe Reyyan Kutan – MSc Student 
Umutcan Kaan Bozan – MSc Student 
Ali Eren Yüksel – MSc Student 
Ceren Aydoğan – MSc Student
Alumni
Naz Şerifoğlu 
Esra Şenol 
Nazlı Akıllı 
Özge Pelin Burhan 
Cansu Üstüner 
Sunny Boncuk Ergül
Ayça Arslan Ergül
Principal Investigator / Scientist
Ayça Arslan-Ergül was born in 1979 in Çanakkale, Biga. She graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. She earned her MSc degree from Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Basic Hepatology department, and did Ph.D. in Bilkent University Molecular Biology and Genetics department, on liver cancer and cellular senescence. In Scotland, Glasgow, she worked on cell-targeted therapies. For five years, she worked at Bilkent University as a postdoc in Michelle Adams Lab, on brain aging and new cell formations and teaching for the Neuroscience program. Between 2017 and 2020, she worked at Hacettepe University. She started working at UNAM in 2020. She is running the “Friends, let’s do science” project as a volunteer. She is the recipient of Sabancı Foundation Change Makers Award and Science Academy Young Investigator Award (BAGEP). She is married and living with her husband Özgür Ergül and three cats.
Elif Akış
MSc Student
Elif received her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from METU in 2018. She is interested in topics related to adult neurogenesis and neural stem cell therapies. She enjoys playing video games, reading, camping and spending time with her cat.
Tuba Sena Oğurlu
MSc Student
Tuba has graduated from Molecular Biology and Genetics department of Boğaziçi University in 2021 and now she is an MSN student at UNAM. In Arslan-Ergul Lab, she studies cell adhesion molecules and their effects on aging. Besides the TÜSEB project, she is interested in neuroscience, immunology and bioinformatics. Going on nature walks, painting and cooking are her favorite activities she does in her free time. Her ultimate goal is to make even a little contribution to science.
Elif Sena Temirci
MSc Student
Elif Sena graduated from Bilkent University Molecular Biology & Genetics Department and started her MSc at UNAM. She is interested in different model organisms, cell cycles, and bioinformatics. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, listening to music and driving.
Ceylin Çetinkaya
MSc Student
Ceylin received her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University in 2022, and started her MSc at UNAM. She is interested in neuroscience and developmental biology. She enjoys reading, watching movies and loves musicals.
Ayşe Reyyan Kutan
MSc Student
Ayşe Reyyan Kutan received her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University in 2022, and started her MSc at UNAM. She is interested in neuroscience from molecular biology perspective and neuromodulator hormones. She enjoys watching animation, listening to music, reading and spending time with her loved ones.
Umutcan Kaan Bozan
MSc Student
Umutcan received his B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University in 2023, and started his MSc at UNAM. He is interested in RNAi mechanisms and epigenetic inheritance on the model organism C. elegans. In his free time, he likes to discover new artists and songs, plays the ukulele, watches basketball and plays games.
Ali Eren Yüksel
MSc Student
Ali Eren has graduated from Biomedical Engineering of TOBB University of Economics and Technology in 2022. He completed his internship program about stem cells at Hacettepe University. Also, he studied with cellular scaffolds and osseointegration at Middle East Technical University. Moreover, he conducted experiments as a project assistant about nanomaterial production and characterization technics at TOBB University of Economics and Technology and now he is an MSN student at UNAM. He is interested in regenerative medicine and drug delivery systems. He likes reading books, hiking and drawing. Additionally, he is passionate about astronomy.
Ceren Aydoğan
MSc Student
Ceren graduated from Middle East Technical University Biology department and recently started her MSc at UNAM. She is interested in aging, neuroscience and stem cells. She enjoys reading, baking and spending time with her dog in her free time.
Associated Members
Malavi Sengupta
Associated Member
Malavi received her B.Sc. in 2012, and her M.Sc. in 2014. She completed her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Ploen, in 2019. She is working on annotating the genome of the pearl mullet, and her co-advisor is Dr. Can Alkan. She is interested in how fish genome organisation changes over time in response to ecological pressures such as salinity or parasites. She also enjoys baking, crochet, and puns.
Alumni
Naz Şerifoğlu
Advisor: Ayça & Michelle Adams
Naz received her BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University in 2016. She is currently an MSc student in the Neuroscience program at Bilkent University. Her research focuses on telomere regulation in brain cancers. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading novels and spending time with her cat.
Naz is currently a PhD student in Miguel Godinho Lab
Özge Pelin Burhan
Advisor: Ayça & Michelle Adams
Özge Pelin Burhan received her M.Sc. in Neuroscience in 2017 and her B.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Genetics in 2015 from Bilkent University. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich/German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. She is working on the pathomechanisms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in zebrafish. In her spare time, she likes swimming and reading.
Özge is currently a PhD student in Bettina Schmid Lab.
Esra Şenol
Advisor: Ayça
Esra received her BS in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University in 2017. She has been awarded SINGA scholarship and now she is a Ph.D. student in the National University of Singapore. She is doing her research with Dr. Fu in Singapore Bioimaging Consortium. She is currently working on neural circuits that regulate feeding behavior. Under Arslan-Ergul’s supervision, she worked on the characterization of neural stem cells. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and traveling.
Esra is currently a PhD student in Yu Fu Lab.
Nazlı Akıllı
Advisor: Ayça
Nazlı received her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University in 2017. During her undergraduate studies, under Ayça Arslan-Ergül’s supervision, she worked on the comparative characterization of neural stem cells from Zebrafish in the process of aging. She did her masters in Biology at LMU Munich. She enjoys photography and swimming.
Nazlı is now a PhD student in Giacamo Cavalli Lab.
Cansu Üstüner
Advisor: Ayça
Cansu completed her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at METU in 2019. She was a part of Arslan-Ergül lab during the first half of 2019, focusing on cloning and transformation in the context of aging brain. As one of her main interests being immune-mediated neurodegenerative diseases, she wants to investigate it with a multidisciplinary approach consisting of neuroscience, immunology and microbiology together. Currently, Cansu is a master’s student in the programme of Molecular and Translational Neuroscience at Ulm University. She describes herself as wanderlust and likes Latin dances as well as Japanese culture and language.
Sunny Boncuk Ergül
Boncuk was born on 19 Jan 2010 in a small village called Shotts, near Glasgow, Scotland. She started her education in the rainy days of Glasgow, observing small creatures in the grass. After moving to Turkey in 2012, she majored in moths and grasshoppers. She obtained her Professorship in dissecting the grasshopper body parts. She enjoys mild cream cheese, lactose-free milk, and sleeping.
