Safak Er

Safak Er is a doctoral student in the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Finland. She received her undergraduate degree from Koc University, Turkey (2015), and Master's degree from the University of Helsinki (2018). Currently, she is pursuing a PhD degree in Integrative Life Sciences (2019-).

Her background is in molecular biology and genetics, focusing on biotechnology. During her undergraduate degree, she has performed genetics studies with model organism C.elegans. She has recieved her MSc from University of Helsinki, where she developed an interest in molecular biology of Parkinson's disease and Lewy Body pathology in dopamine neurons. She contributed to development of lentivirus based genetic modification systems (eg neuron specific CRISPR-Cas9), in vitro reporter assays and novel models to study Lewy Body-like pathology in dopamine neurons.

Her research utilizes viral vectors, in vitro mouse neuronal cultures, mice, as well as human stem cells to discover therapies to reduce alpha-synuclein accumulation in dopamine neurons. She is expected to complete her doctoral thesis in 2022-2023 and aiming to improve the current knowledge on neurodegenerative diseases and accompanying protein accumulations in neurons.