(Get to Know Me)
hello, I'mElif
I'm a high school student living in Eskişehir who blends research with art and volunteering. My life moves between the lab, the clinic, the classroom, and my notebook.
4.00
GPA
5
Research Projects
3
Languages Spoken
500+
Volunteers Reached
01
Roots
A curiosity that started in Eskişehir
I study at Bahçeşehir Anatolian High School in Eskişehir, I'm in the class of 2027, and I keep a 4.00 GPA. My curiosity about biology, neuroscience, and clinical research took me to lab doors, hospital corridors, and international conference halls at a very young age. Turning every concept I learn in class into a real question has always been the most exciting part for me.
02
Research
Four labs, one curiosity
I currently work as a remote research assistant with four different teams: I'm building a pathway analysis tool for cancer researchers at Istanbul Technical University; studying how visual memory is encoded in the brain at MACC Lab; and working on a wearable therapeutic patch for traumatic brain injury in Prof. Dr. Haneesh Kesari's lab at Brown University — this work was accepted to NeurIPS. Alongside these, I'm running an internship at Acıbadem Hospital's Oncology unit researching chemotherapy resistance in glioma cells, and volunteering two days a week at Odunpazarı Alzheimer Center.
03
Social Good
From science to people
Social impact is as central to my life as science. In 2025 I founded an initiative called Words Beyond Boundaries; we teach English to children in rural areas and refugee communities, and together with Sekiz Basamak Derneği we ran a program reaching over 500 volunteers in refugee camps. In 2023, I took part in field duty as a volunteer with the Turkish Red Crescent Eskişehir Branch during the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes.
04
Creativity
In words and in lines
Writing is also a form of expression for me: I contributed as a poet to a poetry collection about friendship between Israeli and Palestinian children, and my poems have appeared in independent literary magazines. I also co-manage an online comic magazine with about 600 readers, and we donate its weekly issues to children supported by LÖSEV.
05
Leadership
At the table and on stage
I've served as a delegate and chair at Model United Nations conferences (IOMUN, SAIMUN, EGIMUN, YYMUN); I won gold at the British Biology Olympiad and silver at the TÜBİTAK Biology Olympiad. All of these experiences taught me the same thing: stay curious, build bridges between disciplines, and turn everything I learn into something useful for others.
What Drives Me
My Values
№ 01
Curiosity
I look for a deeper question behind every question; carrying it from the lab to the classroom, and the classroom to the field.
№ 02
Empathy
From Alzheimer's patients to refugee children, I care about the story of everyone I meet.
№ 03
Interdisciplinary Thinking
I love combining biology with engineering, data with art, and science with storytelling.
№ 04
Responsibility
I try to turn everything I learn into something concrete that creates value somewhere.
Languages
Languages I Speak
Turkish
Native
English
Fluent
German
Intermediate
Skills & Interests
Technical & Creative
Technical ↓
Interests ↓
“Stay curious, build bridges between disciplines, and turn everything I learn into something useful for others.”
Elif
Want to take a closer look at my work?
All of my research, clinical, and volunteer experience lives on my work areas page.