Batur Gultekin, BSc (Hon)

I completed my bachelor’s degree, double majoring in Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering and Computer Science and Engineering with honors at Sabancı University, Turkey. During my undergraduate studies, I developed an intense curiosity and passion towards computational biology and bioinformatics, which motivated me to pursue an academic career.

In 2019, I took part in a research internship at Yale School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, where I studied gene mutations in central nervous system development that underlie various aneurysms at Neurogenetics laboratory of Professor Murat Gunel, MD.

As a member of Gunel Lab, I helped identifying the role of PPIL4 mutations in intracranial aneurysms. In an effort to understand the impact of PPIL4 loss on hemodynamics in zebrafish brain vasculature, I designed the novel integration pipeline of the model of zebrafish cerebrovascular structure to a CFD application that, at the time, was the first of its kind. Our study was later published in Nature Medicine.

In 2022, I returned to Yale once more as a Postgraduate Associate Research Scholar at Yale School of Medicine in Department of Neurosurgery. I am currently working under the supervision of Dr. Barak in Dr. Murat Gunel`s laboratory and conducting research on the contribution of population-rare germline mutations in cerebrovascular disorders including intracranial aneurysms and Moyamoya disease as well as structural brain malformations including microcephaly. I am taking part in both computational and wet lab aspects of the research projects.