diet gut microbiota and brain function

The book Brain Maker by Dr David Perlmutter made me realize how the gut and brain link with each other. He has demonstrated various of study and explained the gut-brain relationship in a straightforward way. I was truly captivated by how nurturing individuals' microbiomes can alter brain health such as reducing dementia, Alzheimer's, and depression. During my study time, I've been interested in probiotics since my master's; therefore, part of my research was related to developing probiotic beverages. I am now looking for new avenues to continue my work related to biotechnology including microbiome and the relationship between diet gut microbiota and brain function. This project has collaborated with Giuliani SpA. I will have a chance to be an intern at a pharmaceutical company so which will open the door for new research areas and broaden my experience. During my undergraduate studies, I was an exchange student at the University of Maribor in Slovenia. I studied and participated in intense lab courses with MSc students where I learned to practice analytical chemistry and different instrumental approaches to foodstuffs. I also gained extensive theoretical knowledge of PCR and other molecular biological methods/ELISA throughout my exchange period. I further gained internship experience in viticulture and wine Production and I learned how to determine the quality parameters of grape juice and manufacturing wine. I also worked in a quality control laboratory during my time in Maribor. Overall, by now I have studied and participated in different research groups at four different universities and consider myself quite flexible and adaptable to different research environments. At present, I have just graduated with a Master’s degree from Ege University. The master's project was conducted at the University of Helsinki under the supervision of Prof. Per Erik Joakim Saris and Prof. Hatice Kalkan Yıldırım. I was an exchange researcher at the University of Helsinki and our lab’s staff consisted of PhDs and postdoc researchers. We always discussed our experiments and updated publications with our lab group; it has inspired me and helped me to understand what it is to be a PhD student. Now I would like to pursue my own research career. I have gained research-related skills in developing probiotic non-dairy beverages which included several processes in the laboratory such as working with cell cultures, HPLC method, physicochemical analysis, cell survival test during the cold storage as well as sensory analyses. My research aimed to produce a “probiotic beverage” that could be used by vegetarians, a new plant-based product, by fermenting soy milk with L. rhamnosus GG. Another purpose was to produce a soy/cow milk probiotic fermented drink useful for consumers wanting to lower their consumption of animal-based protein without losing too much of the taste and mouthfeel of fermented cow milk. Further, I was able to get adequate data from my experiment, even though I did my laboratory work during the lockdown period of the global pandemic when the laboratory was constantly closing down. Nevertheless, I was pretty consistent in concluding my research with sufficient data for my research paper. After all challenges, our manuscript is now ready for submission to the FOODS journal. Outside my research work, I have sought various opportunities to develop my communication and academic writing skills. Accordingly, I have authored and contributed to four publications including a research paper, review and two conference presentations, and worked on collaborations important to our lab’s projects. As a consequence of these experiences sharing new knowledge, listening, and learning new skills have become second nature to me.