In Memory of Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök…

We asked her friends, students and colleagues about ITU Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics faculty member Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök on the second anniversary of her passing away...

We asked for the opinions of her colleagues and students in order to remind and introduce Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics faculty member Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök, who passed away in 2022, to our students and young researchers.

Interview: Cüneyt Altındaş

News Editor: Fatih Çünkioğlu

 

“Her sincere and close communication with her students was her distinguishing feature”

ITU Molecular Biology and Genetics Department Head Prof. Dr. Zeynep Petek Çakar, as one of close friends of Fatma Neşe Kök who worked with her for many years, talked about her valuable contributions to ITU and the Turkish academia.

— Which aspects of Fatma Neşe Kök do you remember most as a friend and colleague?

I remember Fatma Neşe Kök mostly for her cheerfulness and smiling face, just like her. Fatma Hoca had a friendly personality who could easily establish dialog and make friends with everyone. She was a responsible and reliable person and above all a good friend. In her academic studies, she was a successful colleague who stood out with her hardworking and energetic nature as well as her solution-oriented personality.

— What are Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök’s contributions to our Molecular Biology and Genetics Department, ITU and the Turkish academia?

Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök, who completed her undergraduate, master’s and doctoral education at METU, became one of the prominent researchers of our country in fields such as biosensors, nanobiotechnology, stem cell and tissue engineering as a result of her doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Vasıf Hasırcı, one of the esteemed academics of our country, and her postdoctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute in Germany as a scholar of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; and she transferred this valuable knowledge and experience to our university and department when she started working as an assistant professor at ITU Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in 2005. Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök carried out TÜBİTAK, BAP, etc. projects in these interdisciplinary areas of expertise with faculty members from various departments within ITU, such as Physics Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Food Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Textile Engineering, and these projects produced many qualified publications and patents. Owing to her social personality and communication skills, these joint projects and thesis studies, which she realized by coming together with faculty members from different faculties and departments, made significant contributions to the establishment and development of the interdisciplinary research culture at ITU.

Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök, conducted numerous TÜBİTAK projects in the field of stem cell and tissue engineering and produced qualified publications and patents together with Yeditepe University faculty member Prof. Dr. Gamze Torun Köse, outside ITU. Three doctoral theses carried out at ITU under her supervision were deemed worthy of the ITU Best Ph.D. Thesis Award. Shortly before her death in 2022, Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök also received the ITU Academic Performance and Publication Performance Awards. Asst. Prof. Dr. Abdulhalim Kılıç, who was her master’s and doctoral thesis student and recipient of the ITU Best Ph.D. Thesis Award, currently continues Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök’s research field and group at ITU as a faculty member of our department.

In addition to her academic achievements, our professor also made significant administrative contributions to our department and ITU and stood out with her constructive and solution-oriented approaches in administrative processes. She served as Deputy Head of ITU Molecular Biology and Genetics Department for nearly ten years, as Deputy Director of ITU-MOBGAM for two years, and successfully fulfilled her duties as a member of the Faculty Board of Directors and the Faculty Board, and as a member of various commissions such as internship, promotion, appointment-promotion, disaster and emergency. She continued her duties as the Head of ITU Molecular Biology and Genetics Department and the Director of ITU-MOBGAM with devotion and success from January 2022 until May 28, 2022, when she unexpectedly passed away.

Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök was a faculty member who was loved and respected by our students, too. Her sincere and close communication with her students was another feature that distinguished her. She supported our students by providing consultancy in our department’s student clubs and international competition teams such as iGEM, and thus made significant contributions to our students’ teamwork and socialization skills.

 

“The clearest answer to the question ‘How can one be a good scientist in every respect?’”

Yeditepe University Department of Genetics and Bioengineering faculty member Prof. Dr. Gamze Torun Köse was a close friend and colleague of Fatma Neşe Kök since her doctoral years. Together, they undertook many successful projects and thesis consultancies. Prof. Dr. Köse answered our questions about Fatma Neşe Kök’s role model qualities and scientific productivity.

— As her close friend and colleague since her Ph.D. years, could you tell us what kind of a role model was Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök for young scientists?

Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök has been a very good role model for both her close circle and her students throughout her life with her positive energy, knowledge, education and behavior. She supervised many students and played a very important role in their education until the day she passed away. A significant number of the students she raised continue on the path she paved by successfully working in important positions both at prestigious universities in our country and abroad.

— You conducted many TÜBİTAK projects with her. A study you co-supervised won the best thesis award at ITU. What would you like to say about Fatma Neşe Kök’s scientific productivity?

She presented valuable works to the scientific world by participating in important national and international projects and producing many articles, book chapters and patents with high scientific contribution value. Our Fatma Hoca is the clearest answer to the question ‘How can one be a good scientist in every respect?’

 

Both being a good scientist and sparing time for social activities

Prof. Dr. Nevin Gül Karagüler shared details about some of Fatma Neşe Kök’s important works and hobbies as a colleague who worked with her at ITU Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics for many years.

— As her friend and colleague, could you tell us what kind of a role model was Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök for young scientists?

I have known Fatma Hoca since the day she started working at ITU Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in 2005. We gave joint courses and worked together as researchers on various projects for many years. I also had the opportunity to work with her in many commissions and administrative duties. She has made great efforts to provide all kinds of support to students as a consultant faculty member in international student projects. She also served as a consultant to our students who participated in the “International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM)” competition, which was established to find solutions to current problems using synthetic biology approaches and is held every year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Fatma Hoca was the most hardworking scientist I have ever met, with her brilliant mind and never-ending energy. Because of all these qualities, she would complete every task she started with great pleasure and in the best possible way in a short time, and she would always devote the rest of her time to various hobbies she enjoyed. She was a very good reader and an equally good traveler. It was a great pleasure to listen to the memories of her travels, especially to the historical regions of our country and to different countries, by viewing the photographs she took.

She was a very good role model for her students, showing that it is possible to both be a good scientist and spare time for different social activities.

— What would you like to say about the projects you carried out together with Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök and the scientific importance of these studies?

Together with Fatma Hoca, ITU Environmental Engineering faculty member and our Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Esra Ateş Genceli again from ITU Environmental Engineering, and with the participation of Ph.D. students from both departments, aquaporin proteins obtained recombinantly from E. Coli were produced as proteoliposomes and then added to membranes. Detailed characterization of this obtained supramolecular structure was performed. It was found that by using these membrane systems we produced under laboratory conditions, water permeability is increased, and especially salt and organic molecules are removed. Following the successful completion of this project, our work on the production of new aquaporin proteins obtained from the extreme environments of our country and capable of working even under harsh industrial conditions has accelerated.

 

A cinephile and philanthropist

ITU Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics faculty member Prof. Dr. Ayten Karataş, a friend and colleague of Fatma Neşe Kök since their doctoral years at METU with whom she worked on projects, talked about Fatma Neşe Kök’s years as a doctoral student, her love of cinema and her philanthropy.

— You have known Fatma Neşe Kök since her years as a doctoral student. Could you give us some information about her work discipline and the issues she paid attention to during her doctoral studies?

Our acquaintance and friendship with our late Fatma Hoca goes back a long time. We have been friends since our Ph.D. years at METU, Department of Biotechnology. Our supervisors were different, we worked in different research laboratories, but we spent a lot of time together because our groups were close neighbors.

Fatma Hoca had a quite high work discipline when she was a student, too; she would come early in the morning, do her experimental work with great care and quickly. She never neglected any of her work, did it meticulously, and never delayed it. She took great care to complete and deliver all her work on time. No matter how complex and difficult the work was, she would never complain, would carry out several studies simultaneously, and at the same time manage to work with joy, laughing and having fun and entertaining her friends as well.

She was always on the side of the right and the just. When she saw a wrongdoing or injustice, she would never mince her words and openly tell everyone about their mistakes. She was a philanthropist, she tried to reach everyone as much as she could. I would like to point out that there is a seat in the Kadıköy movie theater named after Fatma Neşe Kök because of her donation.

Whether it was weekdays or weekends, she would plan every moment and make time for all social activities. She would follow all fantastic movies that would be released, buy tickets in advance and never miss the first screenings. She loved traveling, would join tours and never miss nature trips. She would not participate in all these activities alone, but always had a friend with her. She would make new friends in every circle she entered. She easily got along with people of all age groups, young and old alike, and filled every circle she entered with her smiling face and cheerful laughter.

She was a very dear friend to me and an irreplaceable and valuable scientist for our department.

 

Leadership, harmony and solution-oriented approach

Dean of ITU Faculty of Science and Letters and Department of Physics Engineering faculty member Prof. Dr. Esra Alveroğlu Durucu talked about her interdisciplinary studies with Fatma Neşe Kök and listed her qualities that first come to mind.

— What did Fatma Neşe Kök Hoca care about the most in interdisciplinary studies and what were the contributions of these studies to ITU?

In addition to the administrative duties we carried out with Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök, I also had the chance to collaborate academically. During these collaborations, I observed the value she attached to science, her extreme curiosity about innovative methods, and how she wanted the students of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics to learn basic knowledge in the field of physics and apply them in their work. Our professor was a natural leader and had a very harmonious and solution-oriented working style. These qualities increased her potential for interdisciplinary work, and as can be seen from her academic output, she was able to collaborate with researchers from diverse disciplines. This aspect contributed to her making both national and international collaborations involving many disciplines, from chemistry to materials science, from bioengineering to physics, bringing projects to ITU, and increasing the visibility of ITU. Her academic achievements and humanistic side have been a role model and source of inspiration, especially for the students of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

— If you were to introduce Fatma Neşe Kök to new students in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in a few sentences, what would you say?

Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök was a hardworking, intelligent, honest, humanist, successful and, like her name¹, cheerful scientist. She was an academic who was loved and respected by all segments of society. She enjoyed counseling our students on club activities, preparing them for competitions, and spending one-on-one time with them. I wish that her loss, which deeply saddened us all, had not happened and that our new students could have the opportunity to work with her.

 

“Everyone remembers her for her energy and beautiful face”

Yıldız Technical University Department of Biomedical Engineering faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sakip Önder completed his master’s and Ph.D. under the supervision of Fatma Neşe Kök. He took part in our interview as one of her first graduate students.

— How can young scientists get to know Prof. Dr. Fatma Neşe Kök and her work better as an example they can look up to?

I don’t think it would be possible to get to know Fatma Hoca through her work. I wish she were with our young friends so that they could have the opportunity to get to know her by spending time with her. Her studies can only provide information about her academic side. In this sense, Fatma Hoca was a valuable researcher who carried out interdisciplinary studies and focused on biomaterials and biosensors in her work. This information can be easily reached by looking at her projects, articles and book chapters. However, you can’t get information about their process of creation, her relationship with her students, and how she did her job with passion and enthusiasm just by reading these works. First of all, Fatma Hoca did everything she did with pleasure and fun. With the big smile on her face, which was identified with her, she was always energetic and reflected this energy to the people around her, making the day beautiful and motivating her students. This must be why everyone remembers her for her energy and beautiful face. Therefore, if they want to get to know Fatma Neşe Kök’s work, I can recommend them to examine her publications and projects, to look at the graduate students she has raised, and which institutions and positions her students are currently working in as a result of these studies. However, if you want to get to know Fatma Neşe Kök herself, I would like them to ask the people who have crossed paths with her and listen from them. I’m sure that everyone will remember her for her joy and never-ending energy.

— Do you have a special memory you would like to share about Fatma Neşe Kök’s character and scientific work discipline?

Fatma Hoca wanted to do everything she did with pleasure and fun. When it came to her students, she was an advisor who was always there for them and took care of everything about her students like a friend or a parent. She was sometimes my coffee buddy with whom I could chat about anything, sometimes my teammate in a volleyball match, or my mentor and advisor in a scientific project. I’m one of her first graduate students, but she had a similar approach for all her students. I can say that if it was necessary to have fun, she was the one who had the most fun, and if it was necessary to work, she was the person who worked the hardest. For example, she would come to her office at literally 7:00 every morning and start working. Most of the time, we had already drank our first coffee and made a critique of the day at this time. She was a researcher who followed scientific studies in her field and encouraged her students to work on different topics, and she raised a large number of master’s and doctoral students during her tenure. The doctoral theses that she supervised were awarded several times as the best doctoral thesis completed in that year.

 

“We try to continue our professor’s scientific vision”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Abdulhalim Kılıç answered our questions as Fatma Neşe Kök’s master’s and doctoral student and a young faculty member who played a role in the continuation of her studies at the ITU Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

— What are the scientific and technical habits Fatma Neşe Kök instilled in you while you were doing your master’s and Ph.D. under her supervision?

First of all, I am very happy to take part in this interview in memory of the late Fatma Neşe Kök, thank you. For me, she was not only an advisor but also a source of inspiration and guidance in the maturation of my academic mind. I am always grateful to her. I wholeheartedly believe that we will contribute to the development of our country and humanity in science and technology and take part in shaping the future of our society with the privilege of the experiences she has provided to me and all the other valuable students she has raised, who are scattered all over the world.

I have always felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with my professor. Her guidance, which had reflections of her cheerful and joyful personality, just as her name suggests, has opened a wide area of ​​freedom for me, especially during my experimental studies. This teaches one to be open to all kinds of innovations. Of course, there is no need to mention the “critical thinking” ability that every scientist should have. I had the opportunity to practice this skill in depth under the supervision of my esteemed professor. I can say that she imparted to me a more analytical and fastidious perspective in my scientific research and, as a result, increased my academic self-confidence.

Her rigorous, careful analyzes and meticulous approach helped me realize the importance of even the smallest details in scientific studies. I can’t forget her incredible patience in proofreading papers and theses, and of course her gentle warnings in Word documents. I think this meticulous approach has rubbed off on me as well; I sometimes find myself struggling with my perfectionism in academic pursuits. However, we reaped the fruits of these efforts when my thesis “Construction and characterization of biomimetic lipid bilayers to investigate cell-surface interactions”, which I completed under the supervision of my professor, was awarded the “Best Ph.D. Thesis Award” of our university in 2018. I’m so happy to have crowned my thesis with this award and to have been able to make my professor happy with this achievement.

— You ensure the continuity of Fatma Hoca’s research field and group. What can you say about these activities?

The sudden loss of our professor left a huge void in our department. A large number of valuable graduate students of hers were orphaned in a way. My first year as a faculty member at our university was not over and I didn’t have any graduate students yet. Aside from my professor’s courses, all of her students, some of whom were my friends, were transferred to my supervision, with a newly obtained Ph.D. Aside from the fact that we were all deeply saddened, I could see the concern in the eyes of her students about their academic path during our one-on-one meetings. I knew I would be tired, but I was determined to take responsibility and do my best to keep my professor’s work alive, with her light, joy and energy, which is her legacy. As a matter of fact, we managed to overcome this, thanks to the knowledge and experience we acquired from our professor.

In our research group, we strive to continue our professor’s valuable contributions to the field and science. We develop new projects, complete existing projects and try to continue our professor’s scientific vision by mentoring young researchers. In this challenging task, we carry the pride of keeping our professor’s name and legacy alive. I’m grateful for all the values she taught me. Her guidance will always illuminate my path in my academic future. It is a great honor for me to carry and continue this legacy.