The Sabri Ülker Science Award, which has been given by the Sabri Ülker Foundation since 2016 to support young scientists, found its owner at a special night held in Istanbul. Offering a glimmer of hope against both cell aging and reproductive problems in women with her researches on egg cell aging and metabolic disorders, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Böke was deemed worthy of the 2023 Sabri Ülker Science Award.  

The Metabolism and Life Symposium, organized by the Harvard Sabri Ülker Center on May 9-10 at Kadir Has University, also hosted the Sabri Ülker Science Award ceremony, one of the most prestigious awards for young scientists. The Sabri Ülker Science Award, which was evaluated by an independent jury and given for the eighth time this year, was won by Assoc. Assoc.. Dr. Elvan Böke, Group Leader of the Center for Genomic Editing (CRG) in Spain, for her research "Aiming to reverse aging in egg cells". After the press conference held on May 9, the award ceremony was held. Assoc.  Dr. Böke received her award from Cahirperson of Yıldız Holding Ali Ülker, Harvard Sabri Ülker Center President Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, Rector of Kadir Has University Prof. Dr. Sondan Durukanoğlu Feyizand Nobel Prize Winner Prof. Dr. Randy Schekman.

Ali Ülker: “As Yıldız Holding, we will continue to support scientific researches”

Ali Ülker, the Yıldız Holding’s Chairperson of the Board of Directorsstated the following at the award ceremony: “Our cooperation with Harvard University and Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil has been going on for almost 10 years. In fact, a 10-year period in science is not very long, because scientific research is a process that requires endless patience, countless trial and error, and serious dedication. Therefore, when we look at the science year, I am very happy with the enormous steps of the Harvard Sabri Ülker Center in providing a return to society in this very short period of time. I congratulate Professor Hotamışlıgil  and his entire team for the concrete steps they have achieved and the results achieved in this process. In addition to their contributions to society, they are also a source of inspiration for young scientists. This award ceremony is actually a result of that.

We are happy that this year, a new one has been added to these inspirational stories with the work of the young scientist, Assoc.  Dr. Elvan Böke.

As Yıldız Holding and Ülker Family, we will continue to support scientific researches that we follow with great pride. I think that the Science Award, which is an important part of our support, is one of the most valuable ways to keep the late Sabri Ülker's name and values alive.”

Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil: “We see that young scientists who won the Science Award have already achieved great success”

Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, President of the Harvard Sabri Ülker Center and Chairperson of the Sabri Ülker Science Award Jury, stated the following at the award ceremony: “I find the Sabri Ülker Science Award very valuable in terms of announcing current researches and supporting researchers who contribute to this area so that science can develop and young people can be more oriented towards scientific researches. With the Sabri Ülker Foundation and the Harvard Sabri Ülker Center, we aim to encourage young Turkish scientists who will be the stars of the future all over the world and to create an effective scientific network with strong connections both with each other and with our country. In this regard, I would like to express my gratitude to the Ülker Family and the Sabri Ülker Foundation for their contributions to the development and strengthening of the effectiveness of our scientific capacity in the universal framework.”

Hotamışlıgil said, “We see that the young scientists who won the Science Award have already achieved great success and we are proud. I am very pleased and congratulated by the participation of Assoc.  Dr. Elvan Böke as an exemplary scientist and role model in this distinguished group. I believe that we are one step closer to our common dreams by getting stronger with her contributions.”

Her research focuses on fertility problems after age 40

Focusing on uncovering the mysteries of egg cells in their work, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Böke and her team discovered that egg cells are not damaged by toxic proteins, thanks to their different organelles. Based on the fact that very few scientific researches have been carried out on egg cells, which are directly related to women's reproduction, the aim of the research is to learn the mysteries of the egg cell and find solutions to the fertility problems women face after the age of 40.

Assoc.  Dr. Elvan Böke: “Our goal is to take a big step forward in the treatment of reproductive diseases”

Assoc.  Dr. Elvan Böke, “Egg cells do not age until age 40, although they are present in women from birth. What causes her to suddenly age after 40 is still unknown. “With our work, we want to uncover the unknowns about egg aging, one of the biggest barriers to fertility and late motherhood.”

Stating that the world's population tends to age and women mostly start to have children after the age of 30, Assoc.  Dr. Böke said: "It is predicted that fertility-related problems will be one of the most important problems that humanity will face in the coming period. Moreover, due to the unknown about the egg cell, more than 25 percent of women who have reproductive problems cannot even be determined what the problem is. In this case, women have to try many unnecessary treatment methods. In our laboratory, we aim to identify the underlying problem of these unanswered reproductive problems and to take a major step forward in the treatment of reproductive health diseases. I would like to thank the Sabri Ülker Foundation, which supported us throughout this process and deemed it worthy of this award, and I am very happy to see that our efforts have paid off.”

2022 has been a very productive and golden year for the Harvard Sabri Ülker Center

Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, Harvard Sabri Ülker Metabolic Research Center continues to conduct scientific research to understand the mechanisms underlying chronic and metabolic diseases and to identify new treatment methods to combat these biggest threats to public health all over the world. Important researches published in the center, which had a very productive and golden year in 2022; Pioneering researches on high-resolution mapping of intracellular architectural structures and how this structure affects metabolism, revealing the release and activity mechanisms of a new hormone called Fabkin that regulates metabolic balance, and finding important mechanisms of adipose tissue inflammation in obesity. 

With these researches, important areas of application for health problems such as heart, liver, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases that occur with aging are among the important focal points of the center. In addition to ongoing projects, the Center will prioritize research that will ensure the transition process of maturing researches to humans.