Sabri Ülker Foundation Turns 10

The Sabri Ülker Foundation, established to bring correct and scientific information in the fields of nutrition and healthy living to all segments of society, is marking its 10th anniversary. The foundation's 10th year was celebrated at the Sabri Ülker Science Award ceremony, organized online this year, which aims to encourage young scientists and support the presentation of research for the benefit of society. The 2020 Sabri Ülker Science Award was presented to Assoc. Prof. Elçin Ünal, faculty member at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. The 10th anniversary of the Sabri Ülker Foundation, established in memory of Sabri Ülker, a prominent figure in Turkey's food sector, to support the dissemination of information in food, nutrition and health to society, was celebrated at the Sabri Ülker Science Award ceremony held online on 22 October. A jury chaired by Prof. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil deemed Assoc. Prof. Elçin Ünal, faculty member at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), worthy of the Sabri Ülker Science Award, which supports young scientists contributing to the future of public health. [caption id="attachment_106246" align="aligncenter"] Assoc. Prof. Elçin Ünal[/caption]

Talat İçöz: The knowledge and experience we have gained over 10 years have given us new horizons and new goals

The digital ceremony, attended by special guests from academia, business and media, began with opening remarks by Sabri Ülker Foundation President Talat İçöz celebrating the foundation's 10th anniversary. Emphasizing that the foundation has worked for 10 years with the goal of bringing correct and scientific information in nutrition and healthy living to all segments of society, İçöz said: "Over 10 years, we have served with great motivation and dedication to reach this goal. Together with our highly valued Science Board Members, our highly valued employees and countless stakeholders who came together for this purpose, we made great efforts. Hundreds of activities carried out on dozens of different platforms found resonance in different areas, from academic circles to state institutions, from civil society to consumer segments." Stressing that healthy generations composed of healthy individuals are the greatest value and most important investment to secure our country's future, İçöz stated, "Over 10 years, we have worked towards this purpose. As one of the leading examples of our work, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, we succeeded in conveying this awareness to more than 6 million students, teachers and parents from every region of our country through the Balance in Eating Education Project. In addition, the Sabri Ülker Metabolic Research Center at Harvard University, which bears our founder's name, stands at the head of our other collaborations of which we are proud. At our center, scientists from both Turkey and around the world conduct numerous research to prevent the occurrence of genetic and metabolic diseases, carrying out studies that resonate in the scientific world for the world and for our future. I hope that in many more decades to come, the Sabri Ülker Foundation will continue this work philosophy with the same enthusiasm. I also heartily congratulate all our colleagues who have put in effort for this purpose," he said.

Prof. Hotamışlıgil: We support Turkish scientists who will contribute to our country's science

Following İçöz's remarks, the digital ceremony continued with a screening of the foundation's 10th anniversary film. Sabri Ülker Metabolic Research Center Director Prof. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil then took the floor. Prof. Hotamışlıgil, who was presented with a plaque of appreciation at the ceremony on the occasion of his 25th year of work at Harvard University, emphasized that investing in people is one of the important stages in science and said: "The Sabri Ülker Science Award is very important to us. Because with this award, we aim to identify our brightest scientists early in their careers and support them. Our dream is to contribute to Turkish scientists who, 20 years from now, will lead the international scientific community and be an important driving force for our country's science and scientists. Those who received this award in previous years are already progressing remarkably well. I heartily congratulate our scientist who won the award this year." [caption id="attachment_106289" align="aligncenter"] Prof. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil[/caption]

Murat Ülker: We are very pleased that our foundation has reached its 10th year

The event continued with a digital message from Yıldız Holding Board Member Murat Ülker shared at the ceremony. Noting that they are proud to support Turkish scientists and young Turkish science students internationally, Murat Ülker said: "Today we are proud to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this foundation, which we established to keep the memory of my father Sabri Ülker alive and to be beneficial to our society and the Turkish scientific world. Sabri Ülker placed great importance on nutrition and health. He was someone who made it his mission to do work beneficial to humanity. Despite various hardships, he became a pioneering figure in these fields in Turkey by making all necessary investments in food quality and R&D and working with international experts. Now the Sabri Ülker Foundation continues this mission. We believe that all this scientific research is a responsibility and obligation we must fulfill for the health of society, our children and future generations. Therefore, we have always supported these efforts and will continue to do so in the future. We are fortunate that the Sabri Ülker Science Award will continue to illuminate the path of young scientists. We are very pleased that our foundation has reached its 10th year. We thank our science board, foundation employees and all institutions and individuals supporting our foundation for their valuable work."

Assoc. Prof. Ünal: "This award is very valuable to me as it reminds me that I am not alone in my scientific work"

The digital ceremony, which continued with the presentation by Sabri Ülker Foundation General Director Begüm Mutuş, featured Sabri Ülker Science Award winner Assoc. Prof. Elçin Ünal, who joined live from the United States. Ünal said, "I feel greatly honored to be deemed worthy of the Sabri Ülker Science Award. This award is very valuable to me as it reminds me that I am not alone in my scientific work. I extend my gratitude to everyone, especially the jury of the Sabri Ülker Science Award. I hope that I can also contribute to other research and discoveries through my work."

The chances of diseases like cancer or Alzheimer's appearing could be reduced

Assoc. Prof. Elçin Ünal, who has built his scientific career on the relationship between meiosis division and aging, investigates how damage accumulated in cells as a result of aging can be treated through natural means. The main goal of Ünal and her team is to understand and reverse cellular aging. Inspired by a teacher in high school, Ünal studied Molecular Biology and Genetics at Bilkent University and began focusing on meiosis division while doing her doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. After her doctorate, Ünal, who emphasized the topic of meiosis division at MIT, one of the world's best universities, decided to research "the effect of meiosis division on aging" while most researchers in the field were studying "the effect of aging on meiosis division." Aiming to define the principles of meiotic differentiation, Ünal joined the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley in 2014 and continued her innovative research in the laboratory she established under her own name. Pointing out that factors such as diet, exercise, sleep patterns, smoking, alcohol use and stress affect both cellular and organismal aging, Ünal stated, "As a result of aging, a decrease is observed in protein quality control and organelle function in cells. The reproductive cells in our bodies can naturally neutralize these damages. If we can understand how reproductive cells accomplish this, we can apply these mechanisms to other cells. Aging is the primary risk factor for many different types of diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's. If we can treat the damage resulting from aging at the cellular level, we can also reduce the chances of different types of diseases appearing," she said.

Award-winning scientists discussed latest developments in science

The ceremony concluded with an assessment of recent developments in the scientific world by previous award recipients: UCLA Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Ebru Erbay, Rockefeller University Faculty Member Asst. Prof. Kıvanç Birsoy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cancer Research Institute Faculty Member Asst. Prof. Ömer Yılmaz and Koç University School of Medicine Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Tamer Önder.