Çiğdem Gelegen van Eijl

Çiğdem Gelegen van Eijl

Çiğdem Gelegen van Eijl graduated from Galatasaray High School in 1991 and went on to study at the Istanbul University Veterinarian Faculty. Following her graduation, Gelegen van Eijl worked as a veterinarian at a private animal hospital for one year in 1996 before moving to Paris, France, where she completed an MA in Cellular Biology.

Gelegen later worked as a researcher for TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Centre whilst also acting as a part-time advisor to a veterinary vaccine company.  After working in the field for three years, Gelegen applied for a PhD in Psychiatric Genetics and was admitted to the doctorate programme at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, UK.

She conducted part of her PhD research in the Netherlands, and after receiving her doctorate, served as a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience first at University College London, and later at Imperial College London.  

Gelegen is currently working on an autoimmune brain diseases (ABDs) project at Istanbul University Çapa Faculty of Medicine. Her main research focus is on neuroscience, with a particular interest in the neural mechanisms of sleep disorders.