Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kaya received his Ph.D. degree in Medical Physiology at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University in 1989. He promoted to Assoc. Prof. in 1991 and earned his professor title in 1998. Prof. Kaya has been working on the morphology, physiology, and pathology of brain microvessels in experimental animal models since 1985. From the beginning of the 90ies, he has focused his studies on the BBB reactions to various experimental pathological conditions, especially to epilepsy. In one of his articles published in “Experimental Neurology” journal in 1996, he has demonstrated the conversion of a normal barrier type brain capillary into fenestrated type in an experimental setting. His research topics between 2000 and 2017 are centered on the reactions of BBB to a number of experimental conditions including sepsis, hypertension, and epilepsy. The main goal of his previous and future researchers is to determine putative mechanisms, which may enable the treatment drugs  which are 98 % unable to pass into the brain tissue owing to the intact BBB, to permeate into the brain by developing physiological manipulations and thus opening the BBB for a desired period and subsequently closing the barrier. In his recent studies, he has focused on neuro nanotechnology in neurodegenerative brain diseases collaborating with abroad researchers.

Selected Publications

Orhan N, Ugur Yılmaz C, Ahishali B, Kuçuk M, Arican N, Elmas I, Gürses C,  Kaya M. Effects of beta-hydroxybutyrate on brain vascular permeability in rats with traumatic brain injury. Brain Research, 1631: 113-126, 2016.

Gromnicova R, Yilmaz CU, Orhan N, Kaya M, Davies H, Williams P, Romero IA, Sharrack B, Male D. Localisation and mobility of glucose-coated gold nanoparticles within the brain. Nanomedicine (Lond), 11(6):617-25, 2016.

Gromnicova R, Kaya M, Romero IA, Williams P, Satchell S, Sharrack B, Male D. Transport of Gold Nanoparticles by Vascular Endothelium from Different Human Tissues. PLoS One., 11(8):e0161610, 2016.

Sahin D, Yilmaz CU, Orhan N, Arican N, Kaya M, Gürses C, Ates N, Ahishali B. Changes in electroencephalographic characteristics and blood-brain barrier permeability in WAG/Rij rats with cortical dysplasia. Epilepsy Behav. 67:70-76, 2017.

Jozwiak S, Becker A, Cepeda C, Engel J Jr, Gnatkovsky V, Huberfeld G, Kaya M, Kobow K, Simonato M, Loeb JA. WONOEP appraisal: Development of epilepsy biomarkers-What we can learn from our patients? Epilepsia. 58(6):951-961, 2017.