Mehmet ÖZTÜRK

Tınaztepe University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Öztürk graduated from Gazi University Faculty of Pharmacy in 1974. After obtaining his Clinical Biochemistry-Immunology Specialization and Biochemistry Doctorate degrees in France between 1977-1984, he worked as a Researcher and Assistant Professor at Harvard University-Massachusetts General Hospital between 1984-1992. Later, he established the Molecular Oncology Laboratory in Lyon, France. He returned to Turkey in 1995 and worked as the Founding Head of Molecular Biology and Genetics Department and the Founding Director of BilGen Center at Bilkent University between 1995-2023. While working at Dokuz Eylül University between 2013-2021, Prof. Öztürk founded İzmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute and İzmir Biomedicine and Genome Center at this university. Since 2021, he has been the director of the Galen Research Center, which he founded, at Izmir Tınaztepe University. Prof. Öztürk has carried out studies on the molecular mechanisms of liver cancer, tumor suppressor genes such as p53 and oncogenes such as Axl and their effects on cell cycle, cell aging and apoptosis. He is a member of European Molecular Biology Organization EMBO, The World Academy of Sciences TWAS, Turkish Academy of Sciences TÜBA and Science Academy. Receiving the TÜBİTAK TWAS Science Award in 1996, Prof. Öztürk also received the Vehbi Koç Award in 2004 on behalf of the Bilkent University Molecular Biology and Genetics Department.