Zehra Sayers

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Zehra Sayers
Born (1953-09-25) 25 September 1953 (age 70)
Alma materUniversity of Hamburg (Habilitation)
University of London (PhD)
Boğaziçi University
Spouse(s)Colin Sayers[citation needed]
Ahmet Evin[1]
AwardsBBC 100 Women (2019)
AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy (as part of a five-scientist group, 2019)
Scientific career
InstitutionsOpen University
University of Uppsala
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Sabancı University
ThesisRandom Walk Behaviour of Amoeba proteus in Response to Electric Fields and Other Stimuli (1978)
Websitepeople.sabanciuniv.edu/~zehra

Zehra Sayers (born 25 September 1953) is a Turkish-British structural biologist. She has previously served as Interim President of the Sabancı University (February–November 2018) and co-chaired the scientific advisory committee for Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME). She was part of a five-scientist group that received the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy in 2019. She holds Turkish and British citizenship.[2]

Early life and education

Sayers was born in Turkey. She studied physics at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. For her postgraduate studies Sayers moved to the United Kingdom. In 1978 she earned a doctorate for research done at King's College London GKT School of Medical Education, the degree was awarded by the University of London.[3][4][5] Sayers worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Open University and the Wallenberg Laboratory, Uppsala University.[6][2] In 1986 she was the first woman staff scientist to be appointed to the Hamburg outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory,[6][7] where she used synchrotron radiation to study cytoskeletal proteins and chromatin.[4] Whilst working in Germany she obtained her habilitation[7] in 1996[2] with a thesis from the University of Hamburg.

Research and career

In 1998 Sayers returned to Turkey, joining the founding faculty of Sabancı University[8] as the partner of Ahmet Evin.[1] Established by the Turkish industrial and financial conglomerate Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş., Sabancı University was the first and only university where Sayers served as faculty member: she was Director of the Foundation Development Program in 2010 and Interim President from February to November 2018.[6][9] Her research has considered recombinant protein production, and has considered the structure of chromatin fibres and filamentous proteins.[6] She looks to identify the relationship between structure and function in macromolecules.[2] At Sabancı University, Sayers was involved in undergraduate teaching, developing an interdisciplinary, liberal arts, curriculum for science teaching.[4] She became professor emerita in 2022.[5]

Sayers became involved with the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME)[10] project since 2000. The light source was inaugurated in 2017 by Abdullah II of Jordan.[11] She believes that synchrotron light sources are an effective way to integrate scientists from different disciplines and nationalities.[12] During her time as Co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee, more than 100 young scientists were trained to use the synchrotron radiation.[12] She held her position as Co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of SESAME from 2002 to 2018.[4][13] Sayers has worked as an advisor for the Turkish Accelerator Center Project, supported by the Turkish state.[6] Together with Eliezer Rabinovici, she spoke about the international collaborations that are part of SESAME at TEDxCERN in 2013.[14]

Selected publications

  • Ozturk, Levent; Yazici, Mustafa Atilla; Yucel, Cemal; Torun, Ayfer; Cekic, Cemal; Bagci, Ahmet; Ozkan, Hakan; Braun, Hans-Joachim; Sayers, Zehra; Cakmak, Ismail (2006). "Concentration and localization of zinc during seed development and germination in wheat". Physiologia Plantarum. 128: 144–152. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3054.2006.00737.x.
  • Sayers, Zehra; Koch, Michel H.J.; Whitburn, Susan B.; Meek, Keith M.; Elliott, Gerald F.; Harmsen, Arnold (1982). "Synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of corneal stroma". Journal of Molecular Biology. 160 (4): 593–607. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(82)90317-5. PMID 7175938.
  • Meek, Keith M.; Elliott, Gerald F.; Sayers, Zehra; Whitburn, Susan B.; Koch, Michel H.J. (1981). "Interpretation of the meridional X-ray diffraction pattern from collagen fibrils in corneal stroma". Journal of Molecular Biology. 149 (3): 477–488. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(81)90482-4. PMID 7310887.

Awards and honours

She was awarded the EuroScience Rammal Award in 2017, which recognised her contributions to building the scientific programme of SESAME.[4][15] In 2019 Sayers became the first person of joint Turkish and British citizenship to win the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy, as part of a group of five scientists receiving the award for their contributions to SESAME.[16][17] Later that year she was named as one of the BBC 100 Women in 2019.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b Kane Finn, Helena (2019). Cultural Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (PDF). Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights. p. 59.
  2. ^ a b c d "Zehra Sayers". people.sabanciuniv.edu. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. ^ Sayers, Zehra (1978). Random Walk Behaviour of Amoeba Proteus in Response to Electric Fields and other Stimuli (PhD thesis). King's College London (University of London). OCLC 1124274356. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.471727.
  4. ^ a b c d e Suchanova, Marie (9 March 2018). "Rammal Award 2017 goes to Dr. Zehra Sayers". EuroScience. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Zehra Sayers | Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences". fens.sabanciuniv.edu. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e Bilişim, Çekirdek. "Prof. Dr. Zehra Sayers". akademikmiras.org. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Prof. Dr. Zehra Sayers'e 2019 Bilimde Diplomasi Ödülü". Eşitlik, Adalet, Kadın Platformu (in Turkish). 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Zehra Sayers, World Science Forum". sciforum.hu. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  9. ^ "New president of Sabancı University takes office". Hürriyet Daily News. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  10. ^ "SESAME: a light in the desert - EMBL". embl.it. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Turkish biophysicist receives prestigious int'l award". Hürriyet Daily News. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  12. ^ a b Powell, Kendall (2019). "How a biophysicist became a beacon of hope in the Middle East". Nature. 567 (7747): 275. Bibcode:2019Natur.567..275P. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00796-5. PMID 30862927.
  13. ^ "Zehra SAYERS". Sharing Knowledge Foundation. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  14. ^ SESAME: A Source of Light in the Middle East: Eliezer Rabinovici & Zehra Sayers at TEDxCERN, retrieved 20 October 2019
  15. ^ "Sabancı University President Zehra Sayers receives international award". GazeteSU. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Zehra Sayers receives 2019 AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy". GazeteSU. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  17. ^ "CERN congratulates SESAME pioneers". CERN. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  18. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list?". 16 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
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