Dr Gozuacik obtained his MD degree from Hacettepe School of Medicine. He received his MS degree of Biochemistry from Ecole Polytechnique and Paris-Sud University and his PhD degree of Cancer Cell Biology from Pasteur Institute and Necker Children’s Hospital Research Center in Paris. Then, he moved to Weizmann Institute of Science for his postdoctoral studies on Cancer and Cell Death Connections. After a 14 years of academic career in Sabanci University, he was appointed in Koç University School Of Medicine and KUTTAM as a Research Professor. Dr Gozuacik also serves as Board Member of the International Cell Death Society, and as an Affiliate Member of the AIM Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in the University of New Mexico, US.

Dr Gozuacik’s research focuses on the study of autophagy signaling and autophagy abnormalities in cancer stem cells, cancer-stroma interactions, tumor immunity, cancer metastasis and dormancy as well as in neurodegeneration.

Selected Publications:

• Treatment of breast cancer with autophagy inhibitory microRNAs carried by AGO2-conjugated nanoparticles. Unal O, Akkoc Y, Kocak M, Nalbat E, Dogan-Ekici AI, Yagci Acar H, Gozuacik D. J Nanobiotechnology 2020, 18(65):1-18.
• MITF/MIR211 axis is a novel autophagy amplifier system during cellular stress. Ozturk DG, Kocak M , Akcay A, Kinoglu K, Kara E, Buyuk Y, Kazan H and Gozuacik D. Autophagy 2019, 15(3):375-390
• RACK1 is an Interaction Partner of ATG5 and a Novel Regulator of Autophagy. Erbil S, Oral O, Mitou G, Cenk Kig, Durmaz-Timucin E, Guven-Maiorov E, Gulacti F, Gokce G, Dengjel J, Sezerman OU, Gozuacik D. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 2016, 291(32):16753-65.
• MIR181A regulates starvation- and rapamycin-induced autophagy through targeting of ATG5. Tekirdag AK, Korkmaz G, Ozturk DG, Agami R, Gozuacik D. Autophagy 2013, 9(3):374-85.
• DAP-kinase is a mediator of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced caspase activation and autophagic cell death. Gozuacik D, Bialik S, Raveh T, Mitou G, Shohat G, Sabanay H, Mizushima N, Yoshimori T, Kimchi A. Cell Death and Differentiation 2008, 15(12):1875-86.