Günnur Deniz

Günnur Deniz graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology in 1985 and completed her master's degree at Istanbul Medical Faculty, Department of Physiology in 1989. Between 1990 and 1994, she received a scholarship from the Council of Higher Education of the Republic of Turkey (YÖK) and completed her doctoral studies at the Department of Immunology, University of Liverpool, earning her PhD in Immunology in 1994. Upon her return to Turkey, Prof. Deniz became the first associate professor in the field of immunology and played a pioneering role in establishing the first immunology department in Turkey at the Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine (DETAE), where she currently serves as Director.

In 1995, Prof. Deniz was appointed as an assistant professor, followed by a promotion to associate professor in 1997 and full professor of immunology in 2002. Since 2002, she has been the Head of the Department of Immunology at Aziz Sancar DETAE. Additionally, she served as the Deputy Director of the institute between 2005 and 2016 and was appointed as Director in 2016. Throughout her career, Prof. Deniz has held numerous leadership positions at Istanbul University, contributing significantly to the decision-making processes in administration.

Prof. Deniz has prioritized the organization of applied Flow Cytometry trainings in the Department of Immunology at Aziz Sancar DETAE every year since 1995. She is a member of ISAC's Live Education Delivery Committee and has been leading the organization of the Turkish-US Flow Cytometry Workshop, held biennially in different regions of Turkey. Her collaborative work extends to the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF) in the field of allergy and Harvard Medical School in the field of immunodeficiency. Prof. Deniz's primary research focuses on the identification and function of natural killer cells and their roles in various autoimmune and allergic diseases, immunodeficiencies, and immunohematology.

From 2006 to 2019, Prof. Deniz served as the President of the Turkish Society of Immunology (TSI). During her 13-year tenure, TSI flourished both nationally and internationally under her innovative leadership, gaining international recognition. Her initiatives, campaigns, and collaborations have significantly raised awareness of the field of immunology in Turkey. After serving as the past president between the years of 2019 and 2022, in 2022 she was honored as the first honorary president of TSI. Currently, she chairs the Flow Cytometry Subgroup of TSI.

Prof. Deniz is also the editor of the Turkish Journal of Immunology. Over the past 15 years, she has played an integral role in numerous national and international congress organizing committees, serving as both a committee member and congress chairperson. A dedicated supporter of EFIS and its initiatives, Prof. Deniz served as the Congress President of the 6th European Congress of Immunology in 2021, successfully navigating the significant challenge of organizing an international congress during the pandemic. She is currently the chair of the Gender & Diversity Task Force of EFIS, a member of the council board of IUIS  and the Basic and Clinical Immunology Section of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.