Professor Canan Dağdeviren invented a special bra that helps discover breast cancer more easily. Here is the story of Dağdeviren and other female scientists from Turkey.
Dilhan Eryurt, who is the first Turkish woman worked at NASA in the 1960s and the first scientist proved that sun loses heat; Türkan Saylan, who worked as consultant at WHO with her work on leprosy; Ayten Aydın who is an anthropologist headed the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for years; Remziye Hisar as chemist who even Marie Curie pursued and many other female scientists… Turkish history is full of achievements of many Turkish women, despite of the boundaries of gender equality and lack of opportunities.
CANAN DAĞDEVİREN
Achieving countless success at a young age, professor Canan Dağdeviren has once again made Turkey’s name among the news to be read with pride. Invented a battery-free heart chip called as PZT MEH and a device that detect skin cancer early, Dağdeviren this time announced that she and her team from the Massaschusetts Institute of Technology have completed the electronic bra project they have been working on for six years. This bra, which takes an ultrasound film of the entire breast in a few seconds without the need for an operator and detects breast cancer early, is a revolution in the field of women’s health.
Dağdeviren wrote on her Instagram account that in 2015, her aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer despite being checked periodically and survived for only six months, and that the foundations of the project were laid in her aunt’s bed in the last 12 days of her illness. The real miracle of the device, which proved successful in its first clinical study, is that it offers many features together. The breast can be scanned from every angle, even the smallest cysts can be detected, and it offers quality imaging by going down to a depth of eight centimeters into the breast tissue. This invention will change the fate of millions of women.
ÖZLEM TÜRECİ
Özlem Türeci, who became one of the names the whole world talked about during the pandemic, had a childhood familiar with the health sector with the influence of her Rize-based surgeon father. Türeci, who focused on cancer research throughout her career and conducted studies aiming to strengthen the immune system against cancer with modified genetic codes, founded the groundbreaking BioNTech company in 2008 with her immunologist and scientist husband Uğur Şahin. Although the company has been working successfully on immunotherapy for many years, she made her name in 2020 with the good news of the vaccine they gave in the midst of the pandemic that swept the whole world. Türeci, who has numerous awards, was listed among Forbes’s magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” in 2021, and in 2023, she was listed in Time’s“100 Most Influential People in the World” list with Uğur Şahin.
ECE KAMAR
Has been working on the ethics of artificial intelligence, which is one of the biggest debates of recent years, Ece Kamar today worked as a technical advisor at Microsoft’s committee on Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Engineering and Research. Born in 1983 in Izmir, Kamar studied computer engineering at Sabancı University and completed her PhD at Harvard University, where she was awarded a Microsoft Graduate Research Fellowship. Kamar works relentlessly to ensure the future of artificial intelligence, also she is known with her studies on equality and morality in artificial intelligence.
YASEMİN ALANAY
With a successful career, professor Yasemin Değertekin Alanay works on genetic diseases in childhood. After graduating from Hacettepe University English Faculty of Medicine, Alanay continued her education and studies in the USA for a while and was among the first physicians to receive associate professorship and professorship titles as well as a minor diploma. However, the media recognized her not only for his personal achievements, but also for her discovery of two new types of genes responsible for bone and facial development in childhood. Today, Albanay, who serves on the boards of directors of the Down Syndrome Association, the Albinism Association and the European Society of Human Genetics, is a successful figure not only in Turkey but also in the global medical world. Albanay’s daughter Deren Albanay graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2023 and earned a master’s degree at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, which accepts only 24 students each year.
FERYAL ÖZEL
While the world has known her for a long time and recognized her with countless awards, Turkey first heard of her as the scientist who visualized the black hole. However, Feryal Özel had achieved incredible success in her education life, which began at Üsküdar American High School, and shaped her goals by working at the world’s leading educational institutions, from the CERN Research Center to Harvard University. Focusing on black holes, neutron stars and magnetars, Özel continues her research at the University of Arizona in the United States and serves as the Chair of the Astrophysics Committee at NASA.
