Aynur Ugur Bilgin MD

Dr. Aynur Ugur Bilgin was a visiting scholar who is a hematologist from the Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine at Akdeniz University Antalya Turkey. She received her MD from Ankara School of Medicine in 1995 and was a resident in Internal Medicine at Baskent University in Ankara from 1995-1999.  This was followed by a fellowship in Hematology at Akdeniz University, Antalya.  Her personal statement follows:

I have been at the University of Minnesota since January 20, 2004. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Philip McGlave and participate in clinical hematology/oncology and transplant in the inpatient and outpatient seeting on a 4-week rotation.  I was an observer in a multi-disciplinary team and learned the management of bone marrow transplant in patients with a variety of malignancies, including acute leukemia and lymphoma.  I was also a participant in case presentations, seminars, and conferences.  I had the opportunity to work with a Hematology/Oncology/Transplant fellow and medical residents on the service.  Since I started, I have been attending a weekly Morbidity and Mortality Conference, which is held in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota.  I have also attended several weekly HOT conferences and seminars.

I have been working at the Stem Cell Institute since March 18, 2004.  My experiences in that lab include culturing stem cells, differentiating those cells, doing PCR analysis, and other basic cell culture techniques.  I have also participated in some animal studies for stem cell research.

I would like to thank my mentors for giving me this opportunity.  I believe this kind of experience will help me to become established in both the clinical field of transplantation and the research field of stem cells.