Rate My Professor Ekin Atilla-Gokcumen

G. Ekin Atilla-Gokcumen is the Dr. Marjorie E. Winkler Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Associate Chair in the Department of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo, College of Arts and Sciences. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2003, followed by a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. From 2009 to 2013, she served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Cancer Biology and at Harvard Medical School in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. She joined the University at Buffalo in 2013 as Jere Solo Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, and became a full Professor in 2022.

Professor Atilla-Gokcumen's research program in bioorganic and medicinal chemistry investigates the roles of lipids in membrane-related transformations during critical cellular processes such as replicative senescence, apoptosis, and necroptosis, which are pivotal for human health and disease. Her laboratory utilizes liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based lipidomics for lipid discovery and employs chemical biology and biochemical approaches for functional characterization, exploring how subtle variations in lipid chemical structures influence biological outcomes. Key publications include "Protein acylation by saturated very long chain fatty acids and endocytosis are involved in necroptosis" (2021), "Short Photoswitchable Ceramides enable Optical Control of Apoptosis" (2021), "Untargeted lipidomics highlight the depletion of deoxyceramides during therapy-induced senescence" (2020), "Membrane disruption by very long chain fatty acids during necroptosis" (2019), "p38 MAPK pathway is Involved in Triacylglycerol and Lipid Droplet Accumulation during Apoptosis" (2019), and "Lipids are Central to Replicative Senescence" (2017). She has earned prestigious awards including the Mister Miyagi Mentorship Award from the LSAMP Summer Program (2017), Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Research Leave Award (2016), The Julian Park Publication Fund (2016), Winkler Assistant Professorship (2013), Jere Solo Assistant Professorship (2013), Werner von Siemens Academic Excellence Award (2003), and was named Vehbi Koc Scholar at Koc University (1999-2003).