"Bilkent University is run in a very professional way. There are plenty of people who are interested in the application of innovation."
Dr. Chris Lomer is new to Bilkent, teaching biotechnology at the Faculty of Science in the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department. He is from Britain and has travelled around the world to perform research projects. Before coming to Turkey, he lived in four different countries; Britain, the Seychelle Islands, Indonesia, Benin (in West Africa).
He has done some interesting research projects in "biological control", solving biological problems by using biological agents. As an example, one of his research projects in Seychelles was to eliminate a type of beetle which was killing coconut trees. The biological agent was a virus that would infect the beetle, and spread to other similar beetles to eventually reduce the population.
At Bilkent University, Dr. Lomer is using the same principle as above for cancer research in the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department. He is working on producing some of the specialized proteins involved in cancer research on a larger scale.
He has found that the molecular biology laboratories at Bilkent are high-tech, well-equipped, and well-maintained. He finds the team in the department very good, and the students "highly intellectual, ambitious, and achievers,". Dr. Lomer ends his views on working at Bilkent as " it gives me an opportunity to work in a dynamic setting with people who want to get on with things."
