Zehra Vural

EDUCATION

College / University

Izmir Institute of Technology

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Molecular Biology and Genetics

Country

Turkey

Lab Experience

Total DNA and RNA isolation, Agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, Western Blot, PCR, RT-qPCR, Cloning techniques, Mammalian cell culture, BrdU Assay, MTT assay, Soft agar colony formation assay, siRNA and cDNA transfections, Immunofluorescence assays, CRISPR with D10A nickase, Use of confocal microscopes Leica SP2 AOBS and Olympus FV3000, Image J analysis

Projects / Research

2019 – 2020: “Generation of cell lines with fluorescently-tagged endogenous proteins implicated in cholesterol metabolism by CRISPR”, Dr. Rainer Pepperkok, Cell Biology and Biophysics, EMBL
2017 – 2019: “Examination of Connexin32 protein overexpression in normal breast MCF10A and breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells in terms of cell proliferation and regulation of cell cycle”, Assistant Professor Gülistan Meşe Özçivici, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, IZTECH
2018: The use of confocal microscope Leica SP2 AOBS and super resolution microscope to study the dynamics of PIN proteins”, RNDr. Jan Petrasek, Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University

Scholarships / Awards

2020 – 2021:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School.
2018, 2019 – 2020:	Erasmus Scholarship
2019:	Highest Ranked Student among all Students, IZTECH

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

I am particularly interested in topics that include cell signaling, regulation of gene expression and RNA biology. I want to learn about the unknown mechanisms that underlie the processes of each and come up with methods to study the interactions between signaling and regulatory aspects of gene expression. Also, integrating microscopy into such studies is an exciting aspect for me.