GÜROL TUNÇMAN

Senior Research Scientist

Q. What attracted you to join the Hotamışlıgil lab at the Sabri Ülker Center?

Passion, drive, and camaraderie are exceptional in the Hotamışlıgil lab at the Sabri Ülker Center. All members have different backgrounds and expertise in science, and the collaborative environment makes a perfect melting pot for scientific discovery. In its field, this lab is one of the top, if not the top, contributor. Gökhan is not only an excellent scientist, but also a mentor with heart. Who wouldn’t be attracted to join?

Q. Have you encountered particular hurdles, challenges or barriers along the way?

Back in the late 1980s in Turkey, a person who goes to Medical School practices as a physician after graduation, which was the norm; if not, then you were seen as a loser. Now, thinking back, our generation probably paved the way for those in medical school to pursue paths other than as practicing physicians, which has positively impacted the following generations. The challenge I encountered was not after I decided to pursue a career in research, but after joining the Hotamışlıgil lab at the Sabri Ülker Center. Probably, except for the Weizmann Institute, I was never surrounded by as many bright, intelligent, and passionate young people pursuing science in my life. Honestly, to adapt and be present in such a high-caliber scientific community was not easy. The search for the next discovery continues and the cycle never stops, which is one of the appeals of working in research.

Q. How did you decide to pursue a career in research?

I was appointed to an Emergency Department after my compulsory service as a General Practitioner in the southeast of Turkey. I always wanted to be a General Surgeon, and the ER was the best place to practice and get experience. But one day, a friend of mine handed me a Human Genetics textbook and told me that there is a PhD program in the Medical School, and that they would open an admittance exam. “You can keep the book if you’re interested in taking the exam.” I had never read any book that fast and continuously in my life before. There were a lot of exciting concepts, tons of unknowns; it just fascinated me. Three days later, I was done with the book and decided to switch to research, instead of practicing medicine, and applied to the Program.

Q. Which particular scientific questions motivate you?

Like many of the scientists in the lab, my daily motivation is to understand what FABP4 protein does in the body after being secreted from the fat deposits, with a particular emphasis on its effect on the airways. When one finds out something and thus makes incremental progress in our understanding of FABP4 biology, we celebrate like kids, but then the next day we come up with more questions. Working on FABP4, those next days occur frequently. That “next day” serves as the biggest motivation—a different, hard-to-explain joy/cycle in science. The search continues for the next discovery and the cycle never stops!

Q. What attracted you to join the Hotamışlıgil lab at the Sabri Ülker Center?

After my undergraduate research experience in computational psychiatry, I decided I wanted to take a translational approach to research and shift my focus toward molecular biology and metabolism. Growing up in Turkey, I was familiar with Dr. Hotamışlıgil’s scientific breakthroughs in metabolic diseases. When I read his papers more in-depth, I was attracted to the unique intersection between metabolism and immunology. More so, I was excited to work in a collaborative and diverse environment with inspiring scientists aiming to solve the most significant public health crises in the world, related to metabolism.

Q. How do you think your time here will affect your career in the long-term?

Tackling scientific challenges every day not only enables me to build on my intellectual development, but to have a better understanding of what it means to be a scientist. Through the guidance of my mentors in the Hotamışlıgil lab at the Sabri Ülker Center, I’m learning how to ask meaningful questions about a problem and how to systematically develop strategies to solve it. As an aspiring physician-scientist, the skills and knowledge I gain here will always be an essential part of my toolbox, especially when I’m dealing with complex disease scenarios.