Fatih Çakar

[email protected]

Dr. Fatih Cakar received his PhD from Prof. Stefan Schild’s lab at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Austria in 2018. His research focused on the mechanisms that enable the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae to adapt to host-associated and environmental conditions. He developed a new cell-based reporter system (TRIVET) to identify genes repressed during passage through the gastrointestinal tract and contributed to elucidating the roles of bacterial gene silencing in intestinal colonization and stress responses. He also investigated the biogenesis of outer membrane vesicles in Gram-negative bacteria and their contributions to bacterial surface remodeling and host adaptation.

After completing his graduate studies, he joined Prof. James Slauch’s lab in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign as a postdoctoral researcher. His research focused on the molecular regulation of Salmonella pathogenesis, particularly the control of the SPI 1-encoded type III secretion system. He investigated how small regulatory RNAs and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms influence bacterial virulence.

Dr. Cakar continues his research at the Health Sciences and Technologies Research Institute (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University. His research focuses on understanding the regulatory mechanisms that enable human pathogens to adapt to their host environment, within the framework of molecular microbiology, bacterial genetics, and pathogenesis. His research utilizes bacterial genetics, small RNA-based regulation, cell-based reporter systems, gene expression, and post-transcriptional regulation approaches.

Dr. Cakar’s current research interests include:

• Molecular regulation of Salmonella virulence and pathogenesis • Small regulatory RNAs and post-transcriptional gene control in Salmonella • Adaptation of Vibrio cholerae to host and environmental conditions • Biogenesis of outer membrane vesicles in Gram-negative bacteria