Bade Sıla Karataş

EDUCATION

College / University

Middle East Technical University

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Molecular Biology and Genetics

Country

Turkey

Lab Experience

Cell and Molecular Biology: Mammalian cell culture and maintenance; primary immune cell isolation (PBMCs); DNA, RNA and protein isolation; nucleic acid and protein quantification; ammonium sulfate precipitation; PCR (including RT-PCR); recombinant DNA techniques (bacterial transformation, plasmid isolation); agarose gel electrophoresis
Immunological Techniques: ELISA (including sandwich ELISA and in-house ELISA); immunoblotting (Western Blotting); immunocytochemistry
Biochemical & Cellular Assays: MTT cell viability assay; clonogenic assay (colony formation); enzyme kinetic assays; colorimetric assays; flow cytometry; SDS-PAGE
Genomics: Bulk and single-cell sequencing workflows; next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation
Bioinformatic Analysis: R programming (basic data handling and visualization)

Projects / Research

2025 – 2026: Special Project (Senior Thesis) Student, "Serine and Glycine Dependencies of AKR1B10-Modulated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells", Banerjee Lab, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Middle East Technical University
2025: Summer Intern, "Investigating the Immunomodulatory Effects of IL-40 in the Murine Intestine", Bağrıaçık Lab, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University
2024 – 2025: Undergraduate Research Intern, "Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire Analysis in CTLA-4 Insufficiency" and related translational immunology projects, Can Sucak Laboratory for Translational Immunology, Hacettepe University
2023: Summer Intern, "Research on Intestinal Organoid Models and Regenerative Biology", BDLab, Bilkent University

Scholarships / Awards

2026 – 2027:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2026:	1^st-Ranked Graduate in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Middle East Technical University
2026:	1^st Rank in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Middle East Technical University
2026:	3^rd Highest-Ranked Graduate, Middle East Technical University
2023 2026:	TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) BIDEB 2248 Mentorship Program for High-Achieving STEM Students
2021 – 2026:	TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) BIDEB 2205 Undergraduate Scholarship
2020:	Brazil MOSTRATEC Finalist

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

I am fascinated by how dysregulation of cellular and molecular processes contributes to human disease, particularly in the context of immune regulation, metabolism and cancer biology. Driven by this interest, my previous research experiences span a broad range of fields, including immunology, cancer biology, and genomics, where I have explored how experimental and sequencing-based approaches can be combined to address biologically relevant questions. These experiences strengthened my interest in understanding the molecular basis of disease and motivated me to approach research from both molecular and biomedical perspectives. Through my graduate studies, I aim to broaden my expertise by learning and applying advanced experimental and computational approaches to investigate complex biological questions. In the long term, I hope to contribute to collaborative and interdisciplinary research that translates fundamental biological discoveries into innovative solutions that improve human health.