Begüm Aydin, Ph.D.

Begüm Aydin is a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology at the Rockefeller University, working with Dr. Daniel Mucida. She received her Ph.D. from New York University and her B.S. from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey.

In her doctoral studies under the supervision of Dr. Esteban Mazzoni, Aydin studied how proneural transcription factors specify neuronal fate. Her research demonstrated a novel mechanism of how transcription factors constrain terminal cell identities and contribute to the diversity of neuronal subtypes. Her work further delineated the importance of choosing the right proneural factor for the clinical applications of neuronal differentiation strategies.

While studying the intrinsic mechanisms that contribute to the specification of neuronal identity, Aydin became interested in the extent to which neuronal development and function depend on environmental cues and perturbations. In her postdoctoral research with Dr. Mucida, she plans to investigate the mechanisms by which microbes and immune activity affect enteric neurogenesis and the development of the enteric neural circuits.