İş Bankası and Koç Üniversitesi Collaborate on Public Health

Türkiye İş Bankası and Koç University are signing a new partnership to contribute to Turkey's scientific and academic activities in the field of public health. At the "Koç University İş Bankası Infectious Diseases Research Center," the aims include conducting advanced research on infectious diseases, developing solutions for diagnosis, treatment and prevention methods, enriching human resources both in quantity and quality, and conducting vaccine and drug studies. Infectious disease specialists and other healthcare professionals working at Bayındır Hospitals will be included in the research, work and training programs to be conducted at the Center, and Bayındır Hospitals are planned to have a place on the Center's Scientific Advisory Board. Infectious disease specialists and other healthcare professionals working at Bayındır Hospitals will be included in the research, work and training programs to be conducted at the Center; Bayındır Hospitals are planned to have a place on the Center's Scientific Advisory Board. On the occasion of introducing the "Koç University İş Bankası Infectious Diseases Research Center," a press conference was held with the participation of İş Bankası General Manager Adnan Bali, Koç University Rector Prof. Dr. Umran İnan, Bayındır Health Group General Manager Sezai Sevgin and Center Director Prof. Dr. Önder Ergönül. In his speech at the conference, Adnan Bali noted that although Covid-19 is currently on the global agenda, throughout centuries humanity has faced major epidemics that have altered the course of history. Bali recalled that epidemics such as plague, cholera, yellow fever, Spanish flu and smallpox caused millions of deaths, and that since the 2000s many people have lost their lives to SARS, swine flu, avian flu and ebola. He emphasized that in addition to global epidemics, Turkey faces epidemics and infectious diseases specific to the region it is situated in. Bali stressed that researching infectious diseases in Turkey, allocating material resources for this purpose and directing more scientists and physicians to this field are of vital importance.

İş Bankası allocates TRY 25 million over 5 years for the Center

Underlining that the Center to be established with Koç University is a very strong step taken to meet a need in this field in Turkey, Bali said, "I view this initiative as a very important responsibility toward the people of our country. I hope the work at the Center will reach a scale that reduces Turkey's dependence on external sources, particularly in vaccines and drugs related to local epidemics, will contribute to Turkey taking its place among countries with a voice in scientific literature in the future by achieving further progress, and will create a good foundation that could become a reference point." Bali pointed out that there will be good scientific synergy between the "Artificial Intelligence Application and Research Center" shared with the public in February this year and the "Infectious Diseases Research Center," and that advantages from healthcare artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, robotics, joint clinical studies and cross-disciplinary interactions can be leveraged. Bali noted that the Bank has allocated a total of TRY 25 million for the Infectious Diseases Research Center over a 5-year period.

Bayındır Health Group specialists will participate in research and training programs

Stating that the pandemic has strained the capacity of many major countries, including the United States, and that countries advanced in medicine with high laboratory capacity have proven to have greater capacity to cope, Bali continued: "We trust in the human resources in our country, and there are many valuable names who will contribute to this Center. I believe that the infrastructure planned so far for this Center within Koç University and the equipment to be expanded with future investments will be extremely sufficient for the work to be conducted. We hope that such a Center will in the future converge toward centers in Germany, France and the United States whose names we admire today, and that Turkey will become an example to the world in vaccine and drug research." Adnan Bali also stated that within the scope of cooperation, infectious disease specialists and other healthcare professionals working at Bayındır Health Group, the Bank's subsidiary in healthcare with approximately 30 years of history and significant experience in this field in Turkey, will be included in the research, work and training programs to be conducted at the Center; and that Bayındır Hospitals will have a place on the Center's Scientific Advisory Board. Bali said, "I find this cooperation among three valued institutions particularly precious when it comes to human health."

Prof. Dr. Umran İnan: "We are realizing partnerships that add value to social life"

Koç University Rector Prof. Dr. Umran İnan expressed great satisfaction in her speech at contributing to Turkey's scientific and academic activities with a distinguished institution like İş Bankası and realizing partnerships that add value to social life. Prof. Dr. Umran İnan continued: "As one of Turkey's leading universities, our most important mission is to contribute to universal science. For this reason, the research we conduct influences scientific developments in Turkey and the world, and we contribute to technological, economic and social development." Emphasizing that the University ranks among the top in Turkey when it comes to external funding for R&D, Prof. İnan continued: "Of the 24 active projects currently supported by the highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) in our country, 13 are conducted at our university. Since January 2004, our university has realized 984 projects funded through framework programs supported by the EU, public institutions including TÜBİTAK, and the private sector in Turkey, with a total budget of TRY 504.6 million. For these projects we accept more than 100 doctoral students each year, half of whom are from abroad." Stating that their research focuses on interdisciplinary work and that their greatest strength in preparing young people for tomorrow is broad-based education, Prof. İnan said, "Particularly the existence of our medical faculty is very important, because over the next 10-20 years most of the new discoveries that will most affect humanity and societies will emerge from areas where disciplines overlap; the overlap between medicine and engineering will determine environments where we can analyze the contribution of each discovery to society, its legal, social and societal effects and consequences." Recalling that Covid-19 has once again demonstrated the importance of research and science, Prof. İnan said, "The way out of Covid-19 is through science and research in this field. Koç University Faculty of Medicine and Koç University Hospital have achieved extraordinary success in becoming increasingly prominent in recent years. By putting more than 40 projects focused on Covid-19 into operation through cooperation among different disciplines, we are pushing the boundaries of knowledge and demonstrating the importance of science once again." Pointing out that the new center will conduct its activities at a point where disciplines overlap, Prof. İnan said, "The Center will be the first and only center of this scale in Turkey. At the Center, work will be conducted against the risk of local and global infectious diseases that threaten Turkish people's health, and efforts will be made to reduce dependence on external sources." Prof. İnan continued: "At the Center, different disciplines will work in a coordinated manner, advanced research on infectious diseases will be conducted, diagnosis and treatment methods will be developed, human resources will be developed, vaccine and drug research will be conducted, and the knowledge obtained will be disseminated to the public. As a research university, I have full faith that we will witness important work at our Infectious Diseases Research Center as we do at our other centers, and that we will contribute directly and indirectly to the future of our country."

Koç University İş Bankası Infectious Diseases Research Center

The Infectious Diseases Research Center to be established within Koç University with the support of İş Bankası aims to conduct scientific research in areas such as drug development and vaccine preliminary studies against infectious diseases, as well as diagnostic methods, infection control and public health. The Center plans to conduct coordinated work among the Faculty of Medicine, Engineering, Science, Economics and Administration, and Humanities Faculties within Koç University. The Center will conduct its activities at Koç University Hospital located in Topkapı. The Center's Scientific Advisory Board includes: Prof. Dr. Levent Doğancı (Bayındır Hospital), Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil (Harvard SPH), Prof. Dr. Alpay Azap (Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine), Prof. Dr. Kenan Midilli (Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine), Prof. Dr. Eskild Petersen (Aarhus, ESCMID), Prof. Dr. Nicola Petrosillo (Rome, ESCMID), Prof. Dr. Tatjana Avsic-Zupanc (Slovenia), Prof. Dr. Larry Madoff (International Society of Infectious Diseases, Harvard), Prof. Dr. Dennis Bente (UTMB), Prof. Dr. Murat Akova (Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine), Prof. Dr. Annelies Zinkernagel (University of Zurich Faculty of Medicine).  

At the Center:

• Microbiology,
• Molecular imaging and digital analysis research,
• Vaccine preliminary studies,
• Infection control,
• Postgraduate education,
• Continuing medical education,
• Capacity development training will be conducted.

The Center plans to communicate with public and civil institutions through its website, and research results obtained at the Center will be announced to the public through documentaries, publications and journals.