People

PI

Tamer Önder

Tamer Önder received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Cornell University. He completed his PhD thesis work on cancer metastasis and cancer stem cells under the supervision of Prof. Robert Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 2008-2012, Dr. Önder was a postdoctoral research fellow in Prof. George Daley’s group at the Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston, where he studied somatic cell reprogramming and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Dr. Önder is currently a professor at Koç University School of Medicine and his research focuses on molecular mechanism of reprogramming and generation of patient-specific stem cells. He is the recipient of 2018 TÜSEB Aziz Sancar Teşvik Award, 2019 iBG Science Medal, 2019 Sabri Ülker International Science Award and 2020 TÜBİTAK-Teşvik award. Research in Dr. Önder’s laboratory has been supported by the EU FP7 Marie CIG program, EMBO Installation Grant, Royal Society Newton Fund and TÜBİTAK.

Graduate Students

Arda Odabaş

PhD Candidate

Inducer of totipotency. Purifier of proteins. Isolator of DNA. Culturer of cells. Başkent BSc. '20

Sarra El-Soussi

PhD Student

Mükrime Altun

PhD Student

"Rise, for this place is not where you belong. Coming into the world, it's not a feat so strong." ✌️ Bilkent '22

Ömer Can Ergül

PhD Student

I'm trying to not die, forever. Interested in aging. Bilkent BSc '21

Nilya Karasürmeli

Master's Student

Elifsu Kartal

Master's Student

Epigenetics enthusiast. Bogazici'22

Mert Gayretli

Master's Student

Undergraduate Students

Elif Naz Ervatan

Undergraduate Intern

Alumni

Lab Members

Alperen Yılmaz – MSc’23
Gülben Gürhan – PhD ’23 
Ata Berk Demir – PhD ’22 – Human Stem Cell & Genome Engineering Center, UCLA
Kenan Sevinç – PhD ’21 – Postdoctoral researcher at Helmholtz Munich
Büşra Bayırbaşı – MSc ’21
Simge Kelekçi – MSc ’20 – PhD Student, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Eray Enüstün – MSc ’20 – PhD Student, University of California San Diego
Burcu Özçimen – PhD ’18 – Postdoctoral Researcher, Hacettepe University
Deniz Uğurlu Çimen – PhD ’18 – Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard University
Ayyub Ebrahimi – PhD ’16 – Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Babraham Institute
Gülnihal Kavaklıoğlu – MSc ’16 – PhD Student, University of Vienna
Can Aztekin – MSc ’16 – Group leader, EPFL
Duygu Payzın – MSc ’15 – PhD student, Harvard University
Kerem Fidan – MSc ’15 – PhD Student, National University of Singapore

Interns

Mehmet Uğur Girgin – Postdoctoral Scientist, Roche, Institute of Human Biology (IHB)
Ozlem Hilal Çağlayan – Pediatrics, Marmara University
Can Özlü – Residency, Pediatrics & Child Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Nur Zeynep Ay – Residency, Internal Medicine, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center
Sencer Göklemez – Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati
Berke Şengün – Residency, General Surgery, Istanbul University
Ekin Deniz Aksu – PhD Student, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
Elif Koçak – Residency, Plastic Surgery, Erciyes University
Deniz Demirtaş – Residency, Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Yeditepe University
Yunus Can Erol – PhD Student, University of Göttingen
Olcay Soyalan – PhD Student, University of California San Diego
Erkin Özel – Postdoctoral Fellow Emory University
Cem Tanrıöver – Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital
Merve Akyol – Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Hazal Can – Intern, KU School of Medicine
Öznur Beyhun – Intern, KU School of Medicine
Gamze Özata – Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research
Batu Özlüşen – Intern, KU School of Medicine
Mehmet Batuhan Karakuş – Intern, KU School of Medicine
Abdullah Burak Yıldız – Intern, KU School of Medicine
Ali Doğa Yücel
Zeynep Umay Gürbüz – KU School of Medicine
Özgür Can