Great Success of BAU and Yale Cooperation

Turkish and American scientists, led by a Turkish physician, have uncovered the genetic basis of meningiomas, a common type of brain tumor (a tumor that forms in the membrane surrounding the brain).

The research on meningiomas, the most common type of brain tumor, by the international research team led by Prof. Dr. Murat Günel, Director of the Brain Tumor Research Program at Yale School of Medicine, and Prof. Dr. Türker Kılıç, Dean of the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Medicine, was published in the journal Science.

According to the research results, the genetic basis of almost all meningiomas can be explained by abnormalities in just five genes. Knowing the genomic profiles of meningiomas, which can only be treated surgically, and their location in the brain makes it possible, for the first time, to develop personalized medical treatments for these tumors.

THE POSSIBILITY OF PERSONALIZED TREATMENT
Murat Günel, head of the research team, Nixdorff-German Professor of Neurosurgery and also professor of genetics and neuroscience, said in a statement: "Abnormalities in these genes determine in which region of the brain the tumor will appear and enable personalized treatments." Prof. Günel stated that they had performed gene analysis on 300 meningioma samples and identified four new genetic suspects that provide preliminary information on the origins and treatment of the disease, and explained that, depending on which gene carries the mutation, the tumor settles in a different region of the brain, which in turn determines the tumors' potential to become malignant.

THE SUCCESS OF TURKISH SCIENTISTS
Prof. Dr. Türker Kılıç, Dean of the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Medicine, who led the Türkiye side of the research team, said: "As BAU Medicine, we are part of the world's network of knowledge and sharing. We started this project with Prof. Dr. Murat Günel, who is also a member of the Bahçeşehir University Board of Trustees. Istanbul is an important center in terms of surgery, while Yale University is an important research center. A significant number of the authors of this study are Turkish. We must also mention Prof. Dr. Necmettin Pamir in this study. More than half of the tumors used came from Türkiye. These data were collected and processed by academics who are now faculty members at the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Medicine. This is the first Turkish neurosurgery research published in the journal Science. Next, our study on tumors originating from the cranial nerves will be published."

BAU MEDICINE AND YALE UNIVERSITY COOPERATION
BAU Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Kılıç said: "At BAU, we have established a new faculty of medicine. Our aim was to position a faculty that is a candidate to lead research and the global knowledge network. With this study, we have seen that we are on the right track. At the very beginning, we have conducted joint work with Yale, one of the best research universities in the world. In the world of science, the concept of country no longer exists. There is no such thing as Türkiye or the USA in the world of science; your borders are limited by the knowledge you produce, and if you can produce, your borders expand."

WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH LABORATORIES FROM BAU MEDICINE
Noting that our country's goals in medical education and research should be higher, Prof. Dr. Türker Kılıç said: "In light of this study, we continue to structure the new faculty of medicine. We say that the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Medicine will have the laboratories and research staff to produce world-class research in at least 5 fields of science. With the science network we will build, if, for example, at least 10 out of every 100 studies published in the world are carried out directly by us, we should be a partner in the remaining 90."

Dean of the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Medicine (BAU Medicine) Prof. Dr. Türker Kılıç

Director of the Brain Tumor Research Program at Yale School of Medicine Prof. Dr. Murat Günel