People

Main Team

Ecology & Medical Entomology

Bülent Alten, PhD.

Özge Erişöz Kasap, PhD.

Slavica Vaselek, PhD. Postdoc

Gizem Oğuz, PhD. Postdoc

Bülent Alten, PhD.

Professor of Ecology

Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Ecology Division, ESRL Laboratories, Beytepe-Ankara, Turkey, 06800.

Bülent Alten, (born May 1, 1964 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Full Professor at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey and has been a member of Science Faculty since 1986. He received a B.S. degree in Biology, an M.S. degree in Zoology-Entomology in 1989 and a PhD degree in Ecology with the thesis entitled “ Investigation on Bio-ecology of Culex species (Diptera: Culicidae) in southern Turkey” in 1993 from Hacettepe University. Prior to getting a full Professor, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Ecology in 1996 and an Associated Professor of Ecology and Mathematic in 2004. He founded The Ecological Science Research Laboratories (ESRL) in Ecology Department and The Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Laboratories (EEGL) in Genetic Department in 2007. He was invited to Montpellier, France by Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD/CNRS/UM) with the grant of Infectiopole Sud, French Government as an Invited Professor to establish vector-ecology unit and to perform a European Union Project (Edenext) together with French scientists between 2010 and 2011. He was Vice-Chairman of Biology Department between 2000-2004 and 2007-2011, Member of Scientific Council of Hacettepe University between 2009-2012 and Member of Higher Education Council of Hacettepe University between 2009-2016.

His research interests in Ecology are in the areas of vector ecology and taxonomy (sand fly and mosquito species), population biology and genetic, geometric morphometrics, modeling and management of vector control methods, and population modeling. He is the author of over 125 scientific papers, 47 technical reports, 7 books and is an active consultant for government and industry in these areas. Under his supervision, a total of 13 MSc and 12 PhD theses in Turkey, France, Serbia, Spain, Romania and Kosovo. He was an invited lecturer at Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) in South Africa in 1999, International Coordination Workshop on Integrated Biological Control (IBC) of Mosquito Vectors of Malaria in the Central Asian Republics in Uzbekistan in 2000, at University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2005, Institut Pasteur D’Algerie in 2007 and at Instituto nacional De Pesquisas Da Amazonia-INPA Laboratorio De malaria E Dengue, SUMMER SCHOOL, Manaus, Brasil. He is a Principal Investigator of 32 National and 11 international projects, which are FP6 EDEN FP7 Edenext, EU ECDC VBORNET, VECTORNET, MEDILABSECURE, AIMCOST, EUROVECNET, HU-WRBU-GEIS, CLIMOS, EU-MARIE CURIE TransLeish. In 1999, British Airways presented him with the Environment for Tomorrow Award for his work on determination of biological richness and establishment of conversation model for Belek Region in Turkey; United Nations with Environment Award for his nature conversation studies performing in Belek Region of Turkey; and he was awarded with Distinguished Achievement Award by SOVE for outstanding accomplishment in Vector Ecology in 2009. Dr. Alten was in Scientific and Organization Committee of many scientific congresses on basic ecology and vector ecology including 13th European SOVE Meeting in 2000 (organizer), 15th European SOVE Meeting in 2006, 5th International Congress of Vector Ecology in 2009 (organizer), 17th European SOVE Conference in 2010, 18th European SOVE Congress in 2012 (under his supervision). He is a member of SOVE (Society for Vector Ecologist), EMCA (European Mosquito Control Association) and Turkish Parasitology Society.

Dr. Alten is also a member of Society For Vector Ecology (SOVE) since 1989 and he was elected as President of European SOVE in 2011. He is Director of Science Institute since 2020.

 

Özge Erişöz Kasap, PhD.

ASSOCIATED PROFESSOR
Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Ecology Division, Vector Ecology Research Group, Beytepe-Ankara, Turkey, 06800.

I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology at Ankara University then in 2001, I began my graduate studies in vector ecology at Hacettepe University Department of Biology. After a Ph.D. on molecular taxonomy of a sand fly species complex distributes in Turkey, I continued my research on sand fly ecology and taxonomy at Hacettepe University. I’ve involved several international and national projects that earned me opportunities to work on the distributions and seasonal dynamics of sand fly species in Turkey and Europe as well as the on the pathogens they transmit. I had a chance to work as a short – term scientific visitor at Genetics and Biodiversity of infectious Systems Laboratories at IRD (Research Institute for Development), Montpellier, France. I am a member of Society of Vector Ecology and, The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Society of Turkey and a lecturer at the Hacetttepe University, Biology Department.

 

Slavica Vaselek, PhD. Postdoc

I hold a BSc and MSc degree in Biology Teaching from the Faculty of Science, Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. In 2018 I defended my Ph.D. thesis at the University of Novi Sad and obtained the title of Doctor of Biotechnical Sciences.

During my Ph.D. studies, I investigated the biology and ecology of various insects that transmit diseases to humans and animals and the epidemiology of such diseases. My main focus was on sandflies and the disease they transmit – leishmaniasis.

Immediately after my Ph.D. defense in 2018, I joined the Parasitology Laboratory at Charles University, Prague, as a postdoctoral researcher, where I worked on a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded project, investigating different aspects of Leishmania parasite virulence, infection, and transmission models. I conducted in vitro and in vivo studies researching what can affect Leishmania survival, proliferation, differentiation, and virulence. My work resulted in the identification and characterization of a novel virulence factor governing Leishmania infection. I investigated transcriptional control and posttranscriptional mechanisms in Leishmania, especially how posttranscriptional regulation can affect different aspects of parasite biology. Besides this, I researched the genetic diversification processes and colonization of Leishmania parasites, and I also contributed in establishing the guidelines for Leishmania work in different protection level laboratories.

After Charles University, I continued my work as a postdoctoral researcher at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, VERG Laboratory. I am a PI of a PartoLeish project, funded by Co-Funded Brain Circulation2 Scheme (CoCirculation2) – European Commission Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Cofund program.

Within PartoLeish I am working on applying the paratransgenic approach in fighting the Leishmania parasites in the vector and finding the best way to stop the parasite development inside the vector unabling the infection from reaching humans and animals.

 

 

Gizem Oğuz, PhD. Postdoc

Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Virology Unit, 3th Floor Altındağ 06230 Ankara, Turkey.

I graduated from the Department of Biology at Hacettepe University in 2012. I continued my MSc and PhD in Ecology division at the same department. I am interested in the taxonomy and ecology of vector sand fly species. In my MSc thesis, I studied the seasonal and morphological changes on sand fly populations in Adana, by comparing the seasonal sand fly data collected from 2006 to 2012 and analyzing wing morphology with geometrics morphometrics approach. My PhD studies was about examining the effects of temperature on gene expression levels of Phlebotomus tobbi Adler, Theodor & Lourie, 1930 (Diptera: Psychodidae), the vector sand fly species in Turkey, comparing gene expression levels of natural P. tobbi populations collected in distinct geographical areas and revealing the differences on protein profiles of these populations with MALDI-TOF MS. I am a member of Vector Ecology Research Group (VERG) and participate their studies since 2008. I’ve been working as a responsible assistant of the sand fly laboratory colonies in Vector Ecology Research Laboratories at Hacettepe University. Within the scope of projects funded by ECDC, EFSA, VECTORNET, US-WRAIR and TÜBİTAK, I participated in faunistic researches for sand flies, conducted in Turkey, Serbia, Moldova and Romania. I also attended national and international training courses about sand fly sampling methods in natural habitats and morphological and molecular identification of sand flies both as trainer and lecturer.

She got her PhD on May 27th, 2022, is post-doc in Verg now.

 

Virology

Koray Ergunay, PhD. MD.

Ceylan Polat, PhD.

Koray Ergunay, PhD. MD.

PROFESSOR

Koray Ergunay is a professor of medical microbiology in the Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. A medical doctor trained as a diagnostic microbiologist with a doctorate in microbiology, Koray has specific expertise in the field of clinical virology. His main research involves vector-borne viruses and focuses on molecular and serological assay development, surveillance, viral metagenomics and virus discovery.

Koray has been studying various aspects of mosquito, sandfly and tick-associated viruses. His group produced significant ouputs on West Nile virus including human and equine infections, entomological screening, and published several reports on clinical disease and epidemiology. Moreover, he is a prominent researcher working on various aspects of Toscana and other sandfly-associated phleboviruses. Koray has currently been involved in projects on host dynamics and control strategies for medically-important tick-borne infections including Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and novel virus identification in ticks. Koray has a long track record of developing and implementing various assays for screening and diagnosis.

Ceylan Polat, PhD.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Virology Unit, 3th Floor Altındağ 06230 Ankara, Turkey.

I graduated from the Department of Biology at Celal Bayar University in 2010. In my BSc thesis, I worked on the developing a lysate vaccine for Toxoplasma gondii strains isolated in Turkey.  I received MSc and PhD degrees from the Department of Medical Microbiology at Dokuz Eylul University in 2013 and 2018, respectively. During this period, I concentrated on the identification and characterization of virus variants and developing rapid serological methods for rodent screening. My PhD thesis was about investigating the relationship between orthohantaviruses and glacial period refugia in Anatolia.

I was supported by FEMS Research Fellowship and collaborated with Prof. Alexander Plyusnin and Dr. Tarja Sironen in Viral Zoonoses Laboratory, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki in 2014. I have been employed as an Assistant Professor Department of Medical Microbiology, Hacettepe University since 2020. In 2022, I was funded by French Research Fellowship to work with Prof. Remi Charrel in the Unit of Emerging Viruses, Aix-Marseille University.

As a member of a multidisciplinary research group which adopts the “One Health” approach, I have mainly focused on the evolution and molecular epidemiology of rodent- and vector-borne pathogens to aid in preparedness for emerging infectious diseases.

 

Veterinary Sciences

Kerem Öter, DVM, PhD.

Sirri Kar, DVM, PhD.

Kerem Öter, DVM, PhD.

ASSOCIATED PROFESSOR
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology,  34320 Avcilar, Istanbul, Turkey.

I graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1998. I completed my PhD thesis titled “Identification of the Mosquito Species in Istanbul, Turkey” in 2007 at the Department of Parasitology of the same institution. My scientific studies focused on the distribution of mosquito species and their pathogens particularly in the Thrace region of Turkey. With my colleagues in HU-EBAL-VERG laboratories, I carried out the scientific project in which Aedes albopictus was first recorded in Turkey in 2011. Since 2017, I am working at Istanbul University – Cerrahpasa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology as an Associate Professor. Recently, the invasive mosquito species are my area of interest. Within the AIM-Cost action, I am responsible for the surveillance activities of the Turkish team since 2020. During this period I participate in the scientific board that provides scientific support in conducting integrated mosquito control for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

 

Sirri Kar, DVM, PhD.

PROFESSOR

Sirri Kar, DVM, PhD is ecologist on vectors and vector-borne zoonotic diseases and Professor at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Biology Department, Tekirdag, Turkey.

DVM degree was received in 2002 at Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Turkey. The research of the doctoral thesis was carried out alternately at Parasitology Institut of Leipzig University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Germany and Parasitology Department of Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Training courses, practices and studies required for different levels of laboratory biosafety have been completed in 2012 and 2019 at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

The main area of the expertise is the ecology of ticks, mosquitoes and associated vectorial diseases. The studies are mostly based on intra and interspesific interference of the vectors, host-vector interaction, and phenology of the ecological dynamics of ticks and mosquitoes in the field circumstances.

 

Mathematical Modelling

Kamil Ergüler, PhD.

Kamil Ergüler, PhD.

ASSOCIATE RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C) The Cyprus Institute 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, 2121, Nicosia, Cyprus

I am a mathematical modeller with an interest in analysing biological systems, climate change impacts, disease vectors, and vector-borne diseases. I was trained in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, and at the University of California, Berkeley. I received an MRes degree in Biochemical Research, an MSc degree in Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology, and a PhD for my work on the mathematical modelling and dynamics of biochemical systems from Imperial College London. At The Cyprus Institute, I am working on understanding the environmental dependence of vector populations, disease transmission, and the impacts of climate change on human health and global disease burden.

 

Shrink

Veysel

Veysel

My name is Veysel which comes from the poet Aşık Veysel. I’m well known with my giant, white posture so usually people call me “White Horse”. I joined the team in early 2017, when I was about 1.5 year-old baby. Since then, I’ve been responsible from the lab’s security, who’s been in and out. My main duty is to sleeping and snoring loud on various parts in the laboratory, blocking the studies  by sitting on computers and playing dangerous games with my team members. I am quite experienced in talking with birds and catching mice in our garden. I love all my colleagues so much, sometimes i never want to get off their laps. But they said that my presence for the laboratory, is a source of peace and joy. I am quite famous, my fans come to see me to our lab, frequently. I’m also famous in social media, my followers number is increasing very fast. If you want to follow me too, you can visit my instagram account, @veyselthehorse.

 

PhD Students

Ayda Yılmaz

Wilfrid Sewade

Kıvanç Sevim

Ayda Yılmaz

Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science Department of Biology, Ecology Section, ESRL (Ecological Sciences Research Laboratory), 06800 Ankara, Turkey.

I graduated from Hacettepe University Biology Department in 2015. I have been working as a member with VERG (Vector Ecology Research Group) since 2012. I completed my master’s degree between 2017-2020 with VERG. In my master’s thesis, life table parameters and species-specific thermal constant and developmental zero values of Phlebotomus tobbi, the proven vector of Leishmania infantum in the Mediterranean Basin, were revealed for the first time. I continued my Ph.D. with VERG in 2020. Currently, I am working on a TUBITAK project as a scholarship student in field and laboratory studies. One of the main aims of the project is to determine the stomach microbial diversity of Phlebotomus tobbi natural populations and investigate the effect on Leishmania infantum metacyclogenesis. I was entitled to receive Climate Change Scholarship by the Council of Higher education of Turkey in 2021. My research interests are colonization, identification, taxonomy, and ecology of sand fly species. I have attended training courses about collecting, sorting, storing, and identifying sand flies for EDENEXT, ECDC-VECTORNET, USA-WRAIR-GEIS, and TUBITAK projects as both participant a trainer. I am also responsible for the maintenance sand fly colonies in HU-VERL (Hacettepe University – Vector Ecology Research Laboratories).

 

Wilfrid Sewade

Hacettepe University, Ecological Sciences Research Laboratory, 06800 Beytepe, Ankara, TURKEY.

Wilfrid is a Medical Entomologist having more than 5 years’ experience of conducting malaria vector control and surveillance studies in communities with an interest in the biology of disease vectors. He’s a young leader committed to sustainable development goals (Good Health and Well-being, founding member of an NGO ‘Brigade Verte’ that promotes a healthy body in a healthy environment) and passionate about scientific research. Since then, he has been working as part of a national close-knit research Team (CREC/MoH) based in Benin Health Ministry as a Research Assistant from 2016 in order to develop new tools for combatting vector borne diseases.

Wilfrid obtained a B.Sc. in biological science (Physiology/Pharmacology) in 2012 before completing his M.Sc. in 2015 in Applied Entomology with focus on Vet and Medical Entomology (1st Class honors), both from University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) where he investigated mosquito bed nets and distribution of metabolic resistance to Anopheles gambiae, main malaria vector in Benin and in most of African countries as well.

In 2019, he moved to Turkey to carry out his Ph.D. studies in Ecology with concentration on Mosquito vectors and their transmitted arboviruses diseases ecology in Vector Ecology Research Ecology Group ‘VERG’ of Hacettepe University. He has background in Entomology, Parasitology, Molecular Biology and Molecular Virology and is interested in NTDs such as Dengue and Sandfly borne diseases.

 

Kıvanç Sevim

Hacettepe Universtiy Beytepe Campus Vector Ecology Research Group (HU-VERG) , 06800 Ankara, Turkey.

I graduated from the Department of Biology at Hacettepe University in 2018. I started my Master’s Degree studies in 2019. During my Master studies, I work on mosquito species especially invasive Aedes aegypti. My thesis is about determining the effects of low temperatures on the life cycle of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linneus,1762) (Diptera: Culicidae). At the same time, I participate in Aedes Invasive Mosquitoes – Surveillance, which is held cooperation with 27 countries. I am increasing my knowledge and experience about Aedes invasive mosquito species by participating in workshops and training schools in AIM-COST, which is a network project. I also participating on sand fly field works. I am actively a member of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Vector Control Science Committee. Since 2015, I have been continuing my studies on mosquito species with VeRG.

MSc Students

Mert Okbay

Zeynel Can Önal

Mert Okbay

Hacettepe University, Ecological Sciences Research Laboratory, 06800 Beytepe, Ankara, TURKEY.

I graduated from the Department of Biology at Hacettepe University in 2021 and currently doing my MSc in Vector Ecology Research Group of Ecological Sciences Research Laboratory in Hacettepe University. My research interest is about investigating the feeding behaviors of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and determining the feeding preferences of these organisms. I received a Scholarship for Natural Sciences from The Council of Higher Education (CoHE) in Turkey during my bachelor’s degree. Currently I am in the 2210-A National MSc Scholarship Program from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). My skills are, rearing and classification of some sand flies and mosquitoes (such as Culex pipiens s.l, Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Phlebotomus papatasi, Phlebotomus tobbi), 3D design and Computer Assisted Designing, 3D printing, Python, R program, bash (Linux/Ubuntu), and Micro-controller programming. I have been a member of Vector Ecology Research Group since 2018.

 

Zeynel Can Önal

Hacettepe University, Beytepe Campus Department of Biology, EBAL, 06800 Ankara, Turkey.

After graduating from Hacettepe University Biology Bachelor’s degree in 2020, I started my master’s degree in the Ecology Department of the same university within Vector Ecology Research Group. My main research focus is to produce niche models that reveal the potential distribution areas of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), a vector organism, current and under the influence of climate change in future, I aim to combine them with the perspective of disease biogeography in future studies.

Alumni

MSc

  • Aslı Belen 2003
  • Hatice Yurttaş 2003
  • Özge Erişöz Kasap 2004
  • Seçil Er 2007
  • Levent Biler 2008
  • Filiz Günay 2009
  • Jorian Prudhomme 2010 (France-IRD, CNRS, Montpellier University) Master 1 (M1)
  • Jorian Prudhomme 2011 (France-IRD, CNRS, Montpellier University) Master 2 (M2)
  • Gizem Oğuz 2015
  • Mert Doğan 2015
  • Yasemen Sarıkaya 2017
  • Ceren Öncü 2017
  • Pınar Kurtoğlu
  • Murat Can Demirok 2019
  • Ayda Yılmaz 2019
  • Begüm Karaoğlu 2019
  • Sevilay Karagül 2021
  • Kıvanç Sevim 2022
  • Zeynel Can Önal 2023

PhD

  • Aslı Belen 2009
  • Özge Erişöz Kasap 2010
  • Berna Demirci 2012
  • Filiz Günay 2015
  • Jorian Prudhomme 2015 (France, IRD, CNRS, Montpellier University)
  • Clara Hernandez Munoz 2017 (Spain, University of Murcia)
  • Slavica Vaselek 2018 (Serbia, Novi Sad University)
  • Cristina Daniela Pop 2019 (Romania, Cluj-Napoca University)
  • Nesade Muja 2020 (Kosova, University of Pristina)
  • Gizem Oğuz 2022
  • Çağla Korkmaz 2022

Visitors

  • Jorian Prudhomme, IRD, France (April -July Temmuz 2014, STSM within EU-FP7-EDENEXT).
  • Dr. Eduardo Berriatua Fernández de Larreafrom, University of Murcia, Spain (October-November 2014, STSM within COST action TD 1303).
  • Slavica Vaselek from Novi Sad University, Serbia (October-November 2014, STSM within COST action TD 1303).
  • Nikolina Sokolovska from Ministry of Health, Skojpe, Macedonia (October-November 2014, STSM within COST action TD 1303).
  • Cristina Daniela Cazan, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (January-February 2016)
  • Clara Munoz Hernandez, University of Murcia, Spain (October-November 2016, STSM within COST action TD 1303).
  • Zahra Saeidi, MSc, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran (January 2020).
  • Zarima Jumakanova, PhD student. University of Murcia, Spain. (Erasmus, March-June 2022)
  • Fatma Messaoudene, PhD student. University of Djelfa, Algeria (March 4th-March 19th)
  • Dr. Ognyan Mikov, National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria (May 14th-May 21th, 2023)
  • Dr. Violeta Yakimova, National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria (May 14th-May 21th, 2023)
  • Zsaklin Vargas, PhD Student, Pecs University, Hungary (September 15th-September 25th, 2023)