Deniz research group is called “ Brain Repair and Imaging in Neural Systems“ (BRAINS). BMC D11 hosts only groups whose research is related to imaging of the brain. Oncologists, pathologists, radiation physics and the group “Translational Neuroendocrinology”.They write joint applications to prove their ability to co work and to point out the fact that they are all experts on different areas with the same focus.
- Interactions are definitely the way to success and in our case and also a mean to create a better research environment when it comes to technical equipment. An advanced bio-imaging platform hosting ultra-high resolution magnetic resonance (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems will cost around 400 MSEK to establish!
- Yes they have similar equipment at the hospital, but these are made for routine examinations in humans. We need more advanced systems as we are conducting research in new frontiers and do it on smaller subjects”, Deniz explains.
Deniz was born in Turkey, in a little town called Antakya (an old Hellenistic city also known as Great Antiochia) near the border of Syria. He grew up with an intense interest in science where Physics was his favorite subject. He was accepted to the Medical School in Ankara with the intention of being a doctor, but he soon found out that it was all about acquiring practical skills and curing people. No science. No experiments. No challenge.
Deniz courageously walked to the Dean, explained his frustration and sense of disappointment and offered his student position to someone else. The Dean actually made a difference and some years later the National Research Council in Turkey announced grants for medical students who wanted to conduct research!
At that point (1995) Deniz was working for a short time in Sweden with Anders Arner. Deniz became a PhD student in Anders Björklund´s group. There, he could study his favorite subject – the brain. He defended his thesis in 2001and during his doctoral thesis period he also finished his internship in Turkey and qualified as a medical doctor in 1999.
He has started his own research group in 2003. Among several other tools, he is using recombinant viral vectors to overexpress specific proteins in the brain of rodents and primates. Deniz and his co-workers are using the non-pathogenic recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors for therapeutic gene delivery in the brain. This gene therapy approach involves injection of purpose-designed viral vectors directly into the brain to express either neurotrophic factors such as neurotrophic factors for neuroprotection, or expression of the DOPA synthesizing enzymes, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and its co-factor enzyme GTPCH-1, for functional restoration both in rodent and primate models of Parkinson’s disease. They have a large grant from NIH to complete the efficacy studies in large primates and have established collaborations with the clinical experts at the University Hospital in Lund to prepare for the first clinical trials of this kind in Sweden.
Using the same viral vector delivery approach, they have also been able to develop a new model of Parkinson’s disease. based on targeted overexpression of human mutant forms of the alpha-synuclein protein, which is known to cause Parkinson’s disease. This model provided a new tool to study abnormal processes in the brain cells that lead to diseases, similar to that seen in the patients. Deniz recently got a large grant from the Michael J Fox Foundation to use this model to understand how alpha-synuclein causes damage in the dopaminergic cells in the brain and lead to Parkinson’s disease.
Being somewhat restless in exploring new frontiers, searching solutions and inventing new approaches.
- Red light does not always mean “stop”. If you want to make an impact, you anyway have to plan your action and cross the road! Walking into an unexplored territory is what defines us as a scientist and it is surprising to see how much more we can learn from our failures than the success.
This is Deniz’ nature.
In shopping situations this turned out to be a serious problem during his years as a bachelor. He and his friends often cooked together and shared all costs. Deniz would fill his shopping basket with everything he felt like buying, without any thought of costs. His friends wouldn’t allow him to go shopping alone, and decided to go with him to the market to approving (or not!) his purchase items. Luckily (for his friends) he is not a bachelor anymore; he is engaged to Åsa Petersén who, by the way, also runs her own research group at D11. In terms of shopping situations, let’s hope she has a steady arm!
Deniz in Ephesus, one of the largest and most advanced of the Roman cities in Anatolia, on the western coast of Turkey
Page Manager: Jenny Månsson
Last modified: 2010-02-11
