Müge Çevik is a physician who is an infectious diseases researcher and science communicator at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. Her research considers

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

, viral hepatitis, emerging infections and tropical infections in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Çevik was an advisor to the Chief Medical Officer of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, and is a member o
New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group
- an expert committee of the UK Department of Health advisin
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies

Early life and education

She studied medicine at the

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University () is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the fourth oldest unive ...

Faculty of Medicine in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. As a medical student, Çevik was involved with projects and youth organisations related to sexual health. She served on the executive committee of the

International Federation of Medical Students' Associations The International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA) is a non-governmental organization representing associations of medical students. It was founded in May 1951 and currently maintains 133 member organizations from 123 countr ...

committee on

reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's Human reproductive system, reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Se ...

. Çevik secured funding from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Embassy Youth Empowerment Grants to study

related stigma in health care settings. As a result of her advocacy, Çevik was invited to join the UNAIDS programme coordinating board meeting. Peer Education - Muge Cevik

She then moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and completed a master's degree in

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

at the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institu ...

and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Çevik completed her specialist training in internal medicine and doctoral research at the

Research and career

In 2016 Çevik joined

NHS Lothian NHS Lothian is one of the 14 regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh (council area), City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian council areas. Its headquarters are at Mainpoint 102 West ...

as a Senior Registrar in infectious diseases. Her research considers HIV and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Çevik is leading a

phase 3 clinical trial The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...

that looks to reduce the treatment time for patients with

drug resistant A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

tuberculosis. In 2020 she was awarded a Clinical Academic Training Fellowship, supported by the Chief Scientist Office Scotland, to establish the biological mechanisms that underpin a poor response to tuberculosis treatment in patients in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

Leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the

Çevik served an advisor to the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland and the

, and she was a member o
New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group
- an expert committee of the UK Department of Health advisin
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies
Throughout the pandemic she provided expert commentary to the public about coronavirus disease. Çevik made use of

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

to keep the public up-to-date with

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

-related research. Working with Colin McCowan, Cevik investigated household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Scotland. Working with the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC), Çevik has looked to transfer clinical studies related to coronavirus disease to developing countries. She created a series of guidelines for clinicians outlining how they should respond to SARS-CoV-2. As part of her work with ISARIC, Çevik looks to identify the risk factors for severe illness in patients with

Comorbidities In medicine, comorbidity refers to the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions in a patient; often co-occurring (that is, concomitant or concurrent) with a primary condition. It originates from the Latin term (meaning "sickness" ...

such as HIV. She works with ISARIC on rapid scientific reviews that can inform government policy. Writing in

the BMJ ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

, Çevik highlighted the importance of ensuring HIV status and testing is included in the management of COVID-19.

Academic service

Çevik is Associate Editor of the

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

journal '' Clinical Microbiology and Infection''. She serves on the steering committee of the

European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) is a non-profit international organization with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. An important activity of the society is the organization of the annual scientific ...

(ESCMID). Alongside her academic research, Çevik is interested in science communication and how physicians can best use

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

to disseminate their research. She has made use of social media network analysis to understand how scientists and physicians use

Selected works and publications

* * * *

References

External links

Muge Cevik
at University of St Andrews School of Medicine
Muge Cevik
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cevik, Muge Living people Year of birth missing (living people) COVID-19 researchers Turkish infectious disease physicians 21st-century British medical doctors Alumni of University College London Ege University alumni 21st-century Turkish women scientists British women scientists 21st-century Turkish physicians 21st-century Turkish women physicians Turkish women physicians