I was born in Karlsruhe, Germany during my father’s Ph.D years, but moved to my homeland Turkey when I was 3.5. I spent my childhood and teen-age years in Istanbul , where my extended family still lives. I attended Uskudar American Academy (at the time an all-girls school for grades 6-12). There, I met many of the influential people in my life, most of whom were young and idealistic college graduates from the US, traveling the world to deliver the passion for independence, courage to explore, and self-confidence to succeed. So it is no surprise that when it was time for college, I decided to leave home and attend Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey to study physics. I was very fortunate to be among the third graduating class of this extremely small and almost exclusively “boys” basic science program at the first private university in the country. It provided me with many opportunities to get involved in different on-campus and off-campus research experiences, including summer internships in Europe. I learned to love and appreciate the multicultural and interdisciplinary aspect of the scientific world, so in my last year in college decided to further expand my horizon by undertaking a Ph.D. program in the Biophysics Program at Boston University School of Medicine with Dr. C. James McKnight. I defended my thesis in 2000 and then moved onto Harvard Medical School to carry out two consecutive postdoctoral fellowships: The first with Drs. Barbara and Bruce Furie, and Dr. Alan Rigby, the second with Dr. Stephen Blacklow. Finally, in January of 2006, I gladly accepted the offer to join the Wellesley Chemistry Department and become a part of this lovely Wellesley Community. So here I am, many years later, still in Boston, and I still love it despite its non-existing spring. You can find the details of my professional background in my [ CV ].
Although I cherish academic life and its activities, I also treasure the life outside academia. I love the outdoors, camping, hiking, biking, and swimming. I enjoy traveling and experiencing new cultures, food, language, and music. I am a big fan of musicals and ice skating. However, no one activity beats the quality time spent with my wonderful family and friends.
Pictures of Turkey
Picture of my family
