Elçin Ünal is an Assistant Professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at the University of California, Berkeley. Her lab studies the principles that control the nuclear and cytoplasm integrity of gametes towards understanding how gamete formation counteracts age-induced cellular damage and how the meiotic cells part it on their chromosomes. Elçin received her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and
Genetics from Bilkent University, Turkey. She then moved to the United States to pursue her PhD research in Doug Koshland’s lab at the Carnegie Institute, Department of Embryology and completed postdoctoral training in Angelika Amon’s lab at MIT. Elçin is the recipient of the NIH Innovator Award, Pew Scholarship, March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Award as well as Damon Runyon Rachleff Innovator Award.
