​Theoretical and Clinical Geropharmacology​

Dr. Atayik is currently working in the Department of General Surgery at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. He has been working as a scientist and researcher with Prof. Ufuk Çakatay since 2017. His research interests are in the fields of aging, age-related disorders, redox biology, oncogenetics, melatonin, mitochondria, surgical advances, and developing novel techniques for modern surgery. Dr. Atayik has conducted clinical research and experimental studies. He has published many scientific papers, such as research papers, narrative reviews, and book chapters, and has worked as an author, referee, editorial assistant, and guest editor, and editor in many prominent publishing houses. He was awarded the Young Investigator Presentation Prize at the VIII. International Congress of Molecular Medicine, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, in November 2021.

Ufuk Çakatay (May 09, 1965 –) is a Turkish biochemist and biogerontologist. He is a full professor of medical biochemistry at Istanbul-University Cerrahpaşa in Istanbul, Turkey. He has a long-standing interest in oxidative protein damage, redox signaling, and biomarkers of proteostasis. Much less is known about the relationship between redox signaling events and senescent cells. However, it has been shown that the number of senescent cells in many tissues increases with age and that senescent cells are found in various age-related diseases. The development of experimental animal models for age-related disorders and the optimization of various bioanalytical techniques for the assessment of redox status in aging tissue are among his major research interests. Professor Çakatay has authored more than 100 publications in several leading journals, including research papers, book chapters, editorials, and invited reviews on free radical biology, aging, diabetes, redox signaling, and senotherapeutics. He has been a guest editor, reviewer, and editorial board member for more than 50 journals. In addition, Professor Çakatay has a keen interest in mentoring medical students and promoting their research careers. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Top Reviewer Award from Elsevier Science Publishing, and was a former member of the Animal Research and Ethics Committee of Istanbul University.