Ilknur Safak Demirel

I am a PhD student studying how environmental factors during pregnancy, such as stress or certain medications, shapes the baby’s brain development. To explore this, I create human-specific three-dimensional models of different brain regions, known as brain organoids, that can be grown in a dish. These tiny brain models mimic many features of the real human brain during early development and can even be used to test how different treatments affect brain cells.

In my talk, I will explain where brain organoids come from, how they are used in cutting-edge research today, and what they can reveal about brain development in both health and disease.