Dr. Berna Sozen

Biography

Berna Sozen is a developmental biologist whose research focuses on early mammalian embryogenesis and stem cell-based models of human development. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Akdeniz University in Turkey in 2009 and obtained her MSc in Reproductive Biology in 2013 and PhD in Developmental Biology in 2018 from the same university. Her MSc research was conducted under Professor Tom P. Fleming at the University of Southampton in the UK in 2012, and her PhD work was under Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz at the University of Cambridge from 2015 to 2018. Following her PhD, she conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge in 2018-2019 and at the California Institute of Technology from 2019 to 2020, also with Professor Zernicka-Goetz. In 2020, Berna joined Yale University as an Assistant Professor, where she established her independent research group within the Department of Genetics. Her pioneering work has enhanced the understanding of lineage specification, tissue morphogenesis, and the self-organization of embryonic structures. Her lab integrates advanced stem cell technologies, multi-omics profiling, and imaging to uncover mechanisms guiding early human development. Berna's contributions have been pivotal in advancing human embryo biology and establishing stem cell-derived embryo models as a robust system for developmental and biomedical research.

Research Interests