Dr Gamze Kocak is a postdoctoral researcher fellow whose academic trajectory is deeply rooted in molecular biology, stem cell technologies, and organoid systems. Her scientific curiosity was first cultivated during her undergraduate education in Molecular Biology and Genetics, where she graduated with a strong academic record and hands-on experience in basic genetic techniques.
She further advanced her specialization with a Master’s degree in Medical Genetics from Akdeniz University, where she worked on elucidating gene mutations associated with osteopetrosis. This experience provided her with a solid foundation in molecular diagnostics and patient-based research. During her MSc, she also explored neuronal differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells, demonstrating her growing interest in regenerative biology.
Her academic journey reached its most formative stage during her PhD at the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylül University. Here, she developed organoid models derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), focusing on ocular tissues such as the cornea and lacrimal gland. Her work notably emphasized the role of autophagy in lacrimal gland and cornea endothelial cell development and function. Supported by TÜBİTAK scholarships and the YÖK 100/2000 program, she conducted innovative projects that combined tissue engineering with advanced microscopy, organoids, and microfluidic technologies.
During her PhD, she was awarded the prestigious TÜBİTAK 2214-A International Fellowship and joined the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences as a visiting PhD student under the mentorship of Dr Sovan Sarkar. There, she studied the role of autophagy in ocular and cerebral organoid development, using both embryonic and patient-derived stem cell models. This transnational collaboration laid the groundwork for her current postdoctoral position at the same institute, where she has been recruited for a three-year AMR and LifeArc funded project focused on rare neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr Kocak’s postdoctoral research continues to push the boundaries of disease modeling and therapeutic discovery. She employs 2D and 3D patient-derived cortical neuron systems to evaluate the efficacy of repurposed drugs. Her publication record includes high-impact papers in Stem Cell Reports, Cell Death and Disease, and Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, covering topics such as mitochondrial dysfunction, autophagy regulation, and organoid-based disease modeling.