PhD DEFENCE CEREN ŞIMŞEK!

The 25th of January 2022 at 4pm, Ceren Şimşek successfully defended her thesis at the University of Leuven, Belgium, entitled: “ROTAVIRUS IN BATS AND HUMAN. Genetic diversity and gastroenteritis in the post-vaccine era”. She presented her research on the genetic diversity of rotaviruses collected in bats around the world, contributing evidence for interspecies transmission events of rotaviruses from bats to humans and other animals. Secondly, she presented her findings on the presence of co-infecting enteric pathogens in 1) vaccinated children diagnosed with rotavirus gastro-enteritis, and 2) infants with gastroenteritis in which a vaccine strain was identified. The ceremony continued with questions raised by the defence committee consisting of 3 national and one international expert jury member. After 1.5 hours of lively discussion, the jury retreated for a deliberation, after which Ceren was awarded the title of Doctor in the Biomedical Sciences.