Biography
Burcu received her B.S degree in Genetics and Bioengineering from Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. She studied the role of ETS transcription factors and identified their potential targets involved in neuronal differentiation in the lab of Isil Aksan Kurnaz. Then she stayed there for a bit more to earn her M.S degree. She then came to Boston to work on optic nerve regeneration as a research intern at Larry Benowitz’s lab. She fell in love with Boston and decided to stay to do her PhD. She received her PhD from the lab of Laura Anne Lowery at Boston College and studied how microtubule dynamics are regulated in the neuronal growth cone during axon growth and guidance in developing Xenopus laevis nervous system. Burcu joined the Whited lab in the summer of 2019 and she is very excited to study the role of bioelectrical signaling during axolotl limb regeneration as well as the establishment of positional information in regenerating limb-tail transplants. Outside of the lab Burcu enjoys riding her bike, running, swimming and hiking.