19 June 2026 – In the frame of the ICPerMed Strategic Working Group on Internationalisation, a webinar will be organised on 24 September 2026 from 15:00 to 16:30 CEST. Prof. Dr. Esra Er and Dr. Yavuz Oktay, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (iBG), Türkiye, will explore how integrating multi-omic analyses with advanced cell models like iPSCs can accelerate the discovery of disease mechanisms and precision medicine solutions.
From Genome to Organoid for Personalised Medicine at Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (iBG)
Personalised medicine for complex human diseases, ranging from neurogenetic and neuropsychiatric disorders to rare liver conditions and cancer, requires the integration of large-scale genomic discovery and functional validation in advanced human cellular systems.
This webinar will highlight how integrative multi-omic approaches, including NGS and GWAS-informed prioritisation, single-cell and epigenomic profiling, CRISPR-based perturbation, and patient-derived iPSC models, can accelerate the identification of clinically relevant disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Moving beyond genomics, the session will also discuss next-generation modelling through the utilisation of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and organoid platforms. By combining AI-assisted genomics with these advanced cell models, researchers can model various human diseases and complex pathologies with high accuracy. Ultimately, drawing from ongoing studies at iBG, this webinar will outline emerging strategies for converting multidimensional genomic data and advanced cell models into actionable precision medicine frameworks and personalised drug screening tools.
Prof. Dr. Ş. Esra Erdal Bağrıyanık
Prof. Dr. Esra Erdal serves as a faculty member in the Department of Medical Biology at Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine and continues her prominent scientific research at the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG). At IBG, she acts as the Principal Investigator of the Stem Cell and Organoid Technologies Laboratory under the Cellular-Based Product Development Group.
In her laboratory, Dr. Erdal primarily focuses on creating high-fidelity in vitro disease models by developing liver and brain organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells. These advanced models are specifically designed to evaluate drug efficacy and safety during the preclinical stage. A key milestone of her research includes the development of the “endodermal hepatic organoid” (eHEPO) platform, which serves as a scientifically and ethically robust alternative to animal testing for hepatotoxicity screenings and modelling rare metabolic liver diseases. In addition to organoid technologies, her group conducts fundamental research into cancer stem cell biology, tumour initiation mechanisms, and the role of the tumour micro-environment, particularly in hepatocellular carcinoma. Her innovative work on long-term hepatic organoid culture technology has also led to pending patent applications with both the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Dr. Erdal is an entrepreneur and founder of Organo-ID, where she leads research and development efforts to evaluate patient-specific therapeutic responses using tumour organoid models.
Dr. Erdal leads the accreditation, quality management, and regulatory compliance of İBG_NEVCELL, a cGMP-certified facility manufacturing clinical-grade stem cell products for advanced therapeutic applications.
Dr. Erdal’s extensive international research has been published in numerous prestigious and high-impact scientific journals, including Molecular Oncology, Stem Cell Reports, Communications Biology, Cellular Signalling, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. According to academic records, she has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles indexed in major international databases such as SCI-Expanded and Scopus.
Dr. Yavuz Oktay
Dr. Yavuz Oktay completed his undergraduate education in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at İ.D. Bilkent University and his doctoral studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the United States. After completing his postdoctoral studies in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr. Oktay returned to Türkiye in 2011 to serve at the School of Medicine of Acıbadem University.
Since 2015, Dr. Oktay has continued his work at Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Biology and the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG). At IBG, he leads the Neurogenomics Laboratory, where he primarily investigates the genetic and epigenetic foundations of nervous system-related diseases, focusing on functional genomic approaches using neural stem cell models.
In recognition of his successful contributions, Dr. Oktay was awarded the “Outstanding Young Scientist Award” (GEBİP) by the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) in 2017 and the “Young Scientist Program (BAGEP) Award” by the Science Academy in 2013. He has been a member of the TÜBA Young Academy since 2020.
Dr. Oktay’s international work has been published in prestigious journals such as Cell, Nature Genetics, EMBO Journal, Journal of Cell Biology, and Blood. His research conducted in Türkiye has also appeared in respected international journals, including Brain, American Journal of Human Genetics, Neurology:Genetics, Genomics, European Journal of Neurology, and Journal of Neurosurgery. His publications have received over 3,300 citations to date.
This is the seventh event of a series of webinars with the aim to overall increase the awareness about Personalised Medicine and to share information about activities and successes in the field.