SEMINAR:Network Medicine: Leveraging Integrated Connections of...

Speaker:Nurcan Tunçbağ (Koç University)

Title: Network Medicine: Leveraging Integrated Connections of Multi-Omic Data

Date/Time: Nov 29,  2023, 13:40-14:30

Place: FENS G032

Abstract: We are in an age of “big data” in biological and health sciences. These big data include several layers including electronic health records, phenotype data, imaging data, and at the molecular level the multi-omics data and beyond. The shifts in data size and type have created opportunities for computational scientists to step in and make an impact in biology and medicine. In today’s world, patient-specific data storage and transforming these data into clinical decisions are fundamental to personalized medicine. Beyond the list of molecules, there is a necessity for computations to consider multiple data jointly and reconstruct the relations between these molecules. In this era of “big data”, we conduct interdisciplinary projects to deliver a “precision medicine” approach by leveraging sophisticated computational methods for data integration and network reconstruction. In this talk, I will present the ongoing projects in our research group ranging from multi-omic data analysis and integration techniques to their application to different diseases and conditions.

Bio:Dr. Tuncbag is an associate professor at Koç University jointly in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and School of Medicine. She received her BS in Chemical Engineering from İTÜ, and her MS and PhD from Koç University in Computational Sciences and Engineering. She did her post-doctoral research at MIT Biological Engineering Department between 2010-2014. She was a faculty member at ODTÜ between 2014-2021. Her research interests are network-based medicine, multi-omic data integration, single cell and bulk omic data analysis, and discovery of latent cancer drivers. Her research has been recognized by national TÜBİTAK Incentive Award, BA-BAGEP, TÜBA-GEBİP, Parlar Foundation, UNESCO-L’Oreal, TÜSEB young researcher awards. In 2019, she was selected for the International Rising Talent award by UNESCO-L’Oreal Foundation. She has been a member of the Global Young Academy since 2020. She continues her research to understand how the networks between proteins and genes are altered in diseases.