PhD candidate Seden Bedir, MSc, moved from Turkey to the United States to attend the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She is studying in the RNA Therapeutics Institute and is passionate about mentoring students from Turkey who are contemplating moving to the U.S. to fulfill their research aspirations.
“There were a lot of scientists who supported me and helped make my communication skills better. I’m happy to pay it forward to younger students,” said Bedir. “Mentorship is so important to keeping people’s interest in science. The way you influence them is going to have a good impact on their career. I try my best to make students curious.”
“I see myself in them,” she said. “Chatting with them and listening about their dreams and passions makes me really happy.”
Bedir is doing her dissertation research in the lab of Li Li, PhD, assistant professor of RNA therapeutics, working on engineering new RNA sequences not found in nature with the hope of harnessing them for novel mRNA therapeutics.
“There are different diseases that are not ‘druggable.’ For example, some diseases can’t be targeted by small molecules and antibodies,” she said. “RNA therapeutics could serve as a very promising strategy, and we could actually drug the ‘undruggable’ targets.”
Bedir studied genetics and bioengineering at Yeditepe University in Istanbul, working primarily on tissue engineering and cartilage regeneration. She earned her Master of Science at Sabanci University in Istanbul, investigating a novel mutation that leads to primary immunodeficiency disease.
“I was very fascinated by physics and astrophysics and even wanted to be an astronaut,” Bedir said. “I love all science in general—physics, chemistry, biology—but the aspect of synthetic biology intrigued me. The fact that we could modify our molecules to cure diseases or do different things to help society is cool and very exciting. That’s why I’m here.”
