Fatma Serap Aksoy (born in 1955) is a Turkish–American medical

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Early life and education

Aksoy was born in

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1955. After graduating from

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

, she moved to the United States for her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in biology from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

. Following this, she earned a PhD in Biology from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship the

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. YSPH is both a department (established in 1915) within the school of medic ...

Career

Following her post-doctoral fellowship, Aksoy joined the faculty at the Yale School of Public Health in 1988. She was eventually promoted to

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

in 2001 and served as the department chair from 2002 to 2010. As a full professor, Aksoy focused on studying the transmission of human African Trypanosomiasis. She was specifically interested in conducting studies to genetically alter

tsetse flies Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies) are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glos ...

so it would be unable to transmit the parasite to humans and livestock. As part of this research, Aksoy also studied the genome in Sodalis, which was published in ''Massive genome erosion and functional adaptations provide insights into the symbiotic lifestyle of Sodalis glossinidius in the tsetse host.'' In 2009, Aksoy was appointed editor in chief of the '' PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases,'' after having served as the journal’s deputy editor. In 2014, Aksoy was a member of an international team of researchers that successfully sequenced the genetic code of the tsetse fly. This was a 10-year effort that began when Aksoy helped initiate the collaborative research project in the early 2000s. Following the sequencing of the genetic code, Aksoy continued to research ways to improve control methods of infections and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate its transmission. As such, she received a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

to support her project "Innovative Methods for Control of Insect-Transmitted Diseases" in Italy. Upon returning, Aksoy led a research team into examining an additional control strategy called para-transgenic expression to synthesize proteins that target trypanosomes in microbes cultivated from the gut of tsetse flies. Aksoy was also one of four Yale female professors to be honored with Women of Innovation awards by the Connecticut Technology Council. The following year, she was the first recipient of the Breakthroughs in Medical Entomology Award in recognition of her discoveries regarding the mammalian trypanosome surface proteins known as Variant Surface Glycoproteins (VSG). Her research team were the first to find why these proteins favored parasite infection transmission. As a result of her global efforts in reducing infection, Aksoy and

Peter Salovey Peter Salovey (; born February 21, 1958) is an American social psychologist and former academic administrator. He served as the 23rd president of Yale University from 2013 to 2024. He previously served as provost of Yale University from 2008 ...

participated in a signing ceremony with the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organization and

Kenya Wildlife Service Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is a state corporation under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established by an act of Parliament; Wildlife Conservation and Management Act CAP 376, of 1989, now repealed and replaced by the Wildlife Conservation ...

in 2018 to continue their existing partnership. The renewed agreement also allowed for the transfer of tsetse fly parts to Yale for further research. The following year, she was honored by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. In 2021, Aksoy was elected a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

for her research into microbial diseases.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aksoy, Serap Living people 1955 births Turkish entomologists American entomologists Vassar College alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Yale University faculty Fellows of the Entomological Society of America Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Robert College alumni