Academic Members

Ilknur Dursun,  Faculty Member, PhD

Asst. Prof. Dr. İlknur Dursun graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology in 2000. She started working as a research assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Middle East Technical University (METU) Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and received her MSc degree in January 2005 with her thesis on the subject " Effects Of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure On Activiy, Anxiety And Learning In Young Adult Wistar Rats ". In 2005, she conducted research for 3 months by receiving scholarships from Louisiana State University, Health Sciences Center, Cell Biology and Anatomy Department and METU. Between 2007-2009, she worked at the University of California Davis (UCDavis), Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and Neuroscience Center to do her doctoral thesis in collaboration with METU-UCDavis research program,. In February 2011, she completed her doctorate degree on " The Effects Of Early Postnatal Ethanol Intoxication On Retina Ganglion Cell Morphology And The Development Of Retino-Geniculate Projections In Mice”. She worked at different foundation universities between 2012-2020. As of November 2020, as a faculty member at İstinye University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, she continues to investigate the effects of toxin exposure (e.g., ethanol) on brain development and behavior on animal models in the perinatal period (prenatal and/or postnatal). She models teratogenic substances in experimental animals with the intubation technique that she successfully applies to newborn mice (0-10 days). Within the scope of preclinical studies, she tests behaviors such as learning and memory, anxiety, locomotor activity, depression by using very broad behavioral tests such as Rotarod/Accelerod, Open Field Test, Forced Swimming Test, Plus Maze, 12-Arm Radial Maze and Morris Water Maze for disorders created in experimental animal models. In addition to behavioral experiments, she performs quantitative neuroanatomical examinations of brain tissue images, which obtained by immunohistochemistry and other staining methods, while using StereoInvestigator and Neurolucida hardware and software (mbfbioscience technology).

Research Areas: Experimental Brain Research, Behavioral Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Neuropsychopharmacology

Ders Verdiği Bölümler: Experimental Brain Research, Behavioral Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Neuropsychopharmacology