Assist. Prof. Nur Mustafaoğlu from Sabancı University is going to be at SABITALKS on March 27 at 14:00. The event will take place in person. YYou can attend the event in person in C-408 Amfi.
Location: Istanbul Medipol University Kavacık North Campus: https://goo.gl/maps/JDDjygVtFLWiPiMJA
*Participants from outside SABITA must fill in the participation form.
The human brain, often hailed as the most mysterious organ in the body, is shielded by a remarkable defense mechanism known as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), serving as its fortress. This intricate interface of the central nervous system (CNS) acts as a guardian, separating the brain from the rest of the circulatory system and other bodily organs, crucially preserving its health. Yet, the BBB also presents formidable challenges, hindering the delivery of drugs to the brain and complicating the treatment of neurological disorders. Despite its significance, our understanding of the BBB’s intricate workings, including its development, maintenance, and interaction with other bodily systems, remains incomplete. Dysfunction of the BBB has been linked to various neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as traumatic brain injury, stroke, and brain tumors. The inability of many drugs to penetrate the BBB further compounds the challenge of treating these disorders, especially given their complexity and the gaps in our knowledge. At the Mustafaoglu Lab, we are addressing these challenges by pioneering innovative microfluidic systems that faithfully replicate the BBB under physiological conditions. Our research spans both healthy and diseased states, including epilepsy, brain cancer, and familial fetal insomnia. We are developing novel protocols to differentiate stem cells into neurons and brain endothelial cells, and we’re designing sophisticated microfluidic devices capable of simulating the physiological vascular movements within the brain. Through these cutting-edge bioengineering approaches, our goal is to deepen our understanding of the human BBB and its implications for health and disease. Ultimately, we aim to develop advanced nano-shuttle systems capable of effectively delivering drugs to the brain, opening up new avenues for the treatment and potential cure of a wide range of neurological disorders. In this presentation, we will focus on the progress of our current projects related to the BBB in our laboratory.
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Sabancı University
Nur Mustafaoglu is an interdisciplinary professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University. She holds two bachelor’s degrees: one in molecular biology and genetics and the second in physical engineering from Istanbul Technical University. She also holds a master’s degree in nanoscience and nanoengineering from the same university. She received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue her Ph.D. in the United States in bioengineering from the University of Notre Dame. Subsequently, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. In 2021, she established a bioengineering laboratory at Sabanci University, where her group focuses on understanding the blood-brain barrier interactions during brain-related diseases and develops innovative drug delivery strategies for the treatment of brain diseases. Her research aims to address key health issues, particularly delivering therapeutics to the brain and developing effective health technologies for the developing world. Her Ph.D. research was recognized by the Berry Family Foundation Graduate Fellowship in Advanced Diagnostics & Therapeutics in 2016. She received the BAGEP Young Scientist award in 2023. Her research is funded by various agencies, including the ERC Starting Grant, EMBO, MSCA, ERANET JPND, ERANET Neuron, and TUBITAK. Her work has been published in prestigious journals such as Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Nanoscale, PNAS, among others.