She earned her undergraduate degree from Bogazici University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Turkey and her graduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her thesis work under Dr. David Sabatini’s supervision at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research investigated the mechanism of amino acid-induced cellular growth. After completion of her thesis work, she joined Dr. Vamsi Mootha’s laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital where she focused on understanding the biochemical composition of the mitochondrial calcium uptake machinery. Her lab currently investigates the role of mitochondrial calcium uptake in regulation of mitochondrial metabolism and signaling.