Assoc. Prof. GÖKHAN DURUKSU

Biography

After receiving his undergraduate degree in Food Engineering  in 2001 the same year he entered to the doctorate program on Biotechnology at the Institute of Natural Sciences at the Middle East Technical University. He obtained his doctorate in 2007 with his study entitled "Expression and analysis of Aspergillus fumigatus endo beta-1,4-mannanase in heterologous host organisms". Before the graduation, he spent a year abroad at Max-Planck Institute Molecular Plant Physiology (Potsdam/Germany) as visitor. In 2009, he started his carrier at Kocaeli University as Research Assistant at the Center of Stem Cell and Gene Therapies Research and Application Center. He received the titles of "Assistant Professor" in 2011, "Dr. Lecturer" in 2018 and "Associate Professor" in 2020. He continues his studies at the Research Center, while teaching graduate students at the Department of Stem Cell affiliated to the Institute of Health Sciences. He focused on the topics of biology of stem cells, cell programming and molecular biology. Stem cell biology, tissue engineering and natural biomaterials are his main research topics. As of 2022, his publications have been published in 42 international journals indexed in SCI, and more than 50 abstracts have been presented at international and national congresses beside a book chapter on stem cells and the translation of two book chapters on developmental biology. His publications received 1056 citations (indexed in SCI, August 2022). In his academic endeavors at Kocaeli University, he directed a number of master’s and doctoral theses, including the 9 master’s theses on the topic of stem cells. He took part in a total of 37 R&D projects, 23 of which were supported by University Reseach Support Unit and 14 of which were supported by TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). On the subjects of the stem cell and tissue engineering, he lectured at and participated into the organization committee of 20 practical courses at the national level  and 1 international summer school.