Introducing: Prof. Özgün Gökce

We are pleased to announce the recent appointment of neurobiologist Prof. Özgün Gökçe as a new member of the faculty at the University of Bonn’s Medical School. Since March 2023, he has been stationed at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn. In addition, Prof. Gökce is also a member of the Excellence Cluster ImmunoSensation2.

An interdisciplinary neuroscientist at heart, Prof. Gökçe is on the cutting edge, pioneering novel methods to explore the nervous system. His group is aim to maintain cognitive health as we age and ward off neurodegeneration. In our fast-evolving technological landscape, he and his dedicated team harness the latest innovations to uncover the nervous system’s secrets in both health and disease.

“We are an interdisciplinary team, from biologists to data scientists, driven by a shared curiosity about the aging brain. We apply ‘omics’ approaches to decode these mysteries and hope to transform our insights into actionable tools for clinicians” says Gökçe. To this end, they’re employing groundbreaking technologies: single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), spatial transcriptomics, electron microscopy, and advanced machine learning algorithms, providing a view of these biological processes.

Short Biography

After completing his undergraduate studies in molecular biology at Bogazici University in Istanbul. His fascination with brain functions and the challenges of neurodegeneration led him to a Ph.D. at EPFL in Lausanne, where he studied neurodegeneration models using high-content imaging and transcriptomics. As a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, mentored by Thomas Südhof and Stephen Quake, Gökçe played a significant role in advancing single-cell and long-read sequencing technologies. By 2016, he had set up his independent research group at LMU Munich, where he utilized a big data driven approach to delve into brain aging. This resulted in pioneering work, like identifying a specific microglial state in aging white matter and spotlighting the role of CD8 T cells in age-related white matter loss.

At the University of Bonn, Gökce is committed to developing and utilizing state-of-the-art technologies such as single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), spatial transcriptomics (ST), electron microscopy, and machine learning algorithms to decode the complex biological processes underlying aging and neurodegeneration.