InFocus / Scientific Gathering With A Purpose
The three-day event will feature two keynote presentations and catalyst talks on the first day, followed by a roundtable discussion including students to foster interactive dialogue and exchange of ideas. On the second and third days (January 14-15), participants will engage in hands-on practical experiments, concluding each day with result analysis and evaluation sessions. We aim to combine theoretical insights with practical applications, offering a comprehensive learning experience for attendees.
To participate in the program, please fill out the registration form until 02.01.2025 midnight. Those interested in attending the workshops must respond “Yes” to the relevant question in the form and provide a brief motivation statement. Workshop participants will be selected based on their responses and it will be hold at Q-Lab (SABITA).
Date: January 13-14-15, 2025
Time: 10.00 – 17.00
Location: Istanbul Medipol University Kavacık North Campus / C Block, 1st Floor, Senate Room. https://goo.gl/maps/JDDjygVtFLWiPiMJA
To Registration: https://sabita.medipol.edu.tr/index.php/2024/12/25/infocus-11th-form/
Çağatay Aydın
Assistant Professor
KU Leuven
Çağatay Aydın is a senior scientist at the Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders (NERF). He received his bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Işık University and his master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Boğaziçi University. He completed his doctorate in cognitive and molecular neuroscience track at KU Leuven University in Belgium in 2019. His main areas of interest are designing and developing next-generation neural implants and the interpretation of the complex data obtained using artificial intelligence in the context of understanding the impact of fundamental neuronal networks on our behavior. Recently, with an international consortium, he developed high-resolution neural implants and produced new prostheses that will enable high-resolution data collection on test animals for months. These studies have been published in prestigious journals such as Nature and Science. In addition, in 2022, he was selected as Belgium’s most promising young scientist, together with a Turkish colleague. His ultimate aim is to implement personalized brain therapies with the devices he develops in the future.
Aslı Ayaz
PhD
Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB); KU Leuven
Asli Ayaz has been a senior scientist at VIB and Neuro-Elecetronics Research Flanders (NERF)since 2019. In Jan 2024, she took on the expert neuroimaging scientist role within the In Vivo Neurophysiology Expertise Unit. She obtained her PhD degree in Neurobiology from the University of California Irvine. Her past research experience extends to both the visual and somatosensory systems and computational approaches. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University College London (UCL) and the University of Zurich. She was awarded a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship in 2021. She has extensive experience in state-of-the-art in vivo imaging and neural recording techniques, behavioral approaches, and computational skills that are vital for the in-vivo characterization of network dynamics. She aspires to disseminate in-vivo neural circuit manipulation and neural recording approaches to the non-expert scientific community and facilitate deciphering circuit function anomalies in in vivo models of brain disorders.