ESOC 2018 – YSPR Interview Ayse Tanritanir

A conversation with Ayse Tanritanir, researcher at Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin and one of the presenters at the Young Stroke Physicians and Researchers (YSPR) session at ESOC 2018, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ayse Tanritanir presented an imaging protocol using BOLD delay that aims to short scan times for non-invasive assessment of hypoperfusion.

Interviewed by Diana Aguiar de Sousa, MD, Neurologist, Hospital de Santa Maria, University of Lisbon

How did you get involved in stroke research?

I graduated from the Medical Faculty in Istanbul and during my studies I was already willing to move to Germany for specialization. I got to know a research opportunity in Berlin for medical students/graduates, where they can get a PhD degree through a shorter program called Dr.med. Since I did an internship at Boston Children’s Hospital in the Neuroradiology field, this allowed me to get to meet other pioneers in this field in Europe, such as my research group – AG Fiebach at the Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin. This group has been executing projects devoted to Stroke research. This is how I got involved in it.

Why did you choose this topic?

Our group has done many researches aiming at implementing resting state functional MRI to stroke diagnosis. Knowing the length of this scan being a lot longer than DSC-MRI (dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI), I became interested in shortening the scan length in order for us to validate these scans` quality and adequacy for stroke diagnosis.

This year’s European Stroke Organisation Conference is revealing big advances and we are having a great time at the Swedish Congress Centre, as new exciting trials revolutionize acute stroke treatment. Can you tell us a little more about your ongoing study?

My project fascinates me each time I get to figure out how much more can be discovered in this field. Implementation of resting state MRI in clinical setting for stroke diagnosis and improvements of its use provides us, as researchers, with the enthusiasm for investigating more and working harder.

What have been the most difficult challenges regarding your research career so far?

It is a bit hard for me to write down every single thing and basically I think that having a proper research notebook has still been the most difficult challenge.

How do you balance work life and free time/home life?

I make sure I spare time for my hobbies at least twice a week and try not to work or think about the work during the weekend.

How did you experience the session and how will it influence your research project?

The session was very encouraging in terms of making me try to look at my project from different aspects. The questions that were asked will definitely make me search for solutions for the unclear part that was indicated by the mentors.

Thank you very much for participating in the YSPR session and for sharing this with the readers of the ESO blog.