The 6th Suna Kıraç Conference was held online on 19-20 April 2024 at Koç University. The Conference entitled "Advances in Gene and Molecular Therapies for Neurodegenerative Diseases: Recent Subcellular and Clinical Insights" kicked off with the Welcome Address of İpek Kıraç and was the first meeting after the passing of Suna Kıraç. The eleven speakers from prestigious institutions in the USA and Europe, such as UMass, Harvard, Kings College London, NIH, Johns Hopkins and Oxford Universities, were world authorities and were brought together considering their multifaceted approach to the subject. As always, the speakers contributed unpublished most recent studies to the meeting.
Topics, including discovery of novel genes and gene targeting, subcellular insights to selective vulnerability, non-neuronal pathology in neurodegenerative diseases and dysfunction of RNA processing in circuit-specific neurologic diseases were exhaustively discussed. The last lecture of the meeting, dedicated to the memory of Suna Kıraç, delineated the genetic structure of the ethnically very wealthy Anatolian peninsula as a rich genetic pool and the complex molecular architecture of ALS in Turkey, so far an under-investigated population at the molecular level. The meeting successfully concluded with an interactive session on sporadic ALS.
On November 22, the Girl-Centered Design Workshop, organized by Suna’s Daughters with the support of the Turkish Philanthropy Funds, brought together public and local government representatives in Hatay. The workshop aimed to develop solutions focused on fostering an inclusive city design centered on the needs, rights, and dreams of girls.
Pera Museum hosted the Greek Cinema Days for the third time, bringing together classic and award-winning films with movie enthusiasts.
The kick-off meeting of the international joint research project titled "The role of HTT-Cis variants in the pathogenesis of Huntington's Disease", which was accepted to the joint program for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, was held at Koç University Hospital with the participation of project partners from Germany (University of Bochum), Sweden (Lund University), Czech Republic (University of Prague) and Canada (University of British Columbia).