Profile
Dr. Yolcu has significant interest in using hematopoietic stem cells as a powerful scheme for immunomodulation with main focus on the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, and allograft rejection as well as bone marrow failure syndrome and hematological malignancies. Imperative to these efforts is a platform technology, ProtEx™, co-pioneered by Dr. Yolcu that allows for; i) the generation of novel immune ligands having robust immune-stimulatory or suppressive functions, and ii) the transient display of these ligands, individually or in combination, on biological and non-biological surfaces for localized immunomodulation. The platform technology has been patent-protected world-wide.
Dr. Yolcu has focused on the Fas death pathway as a critical regulator of immunity and generated a novel agonist, SA-FasL, with robust apoptotic function. The transient display of SA-FasL on biologic surfaces was shown to serve as an effective means of localized immunomodulation with therapeutic efficacy in preclinical models of cellular, tissue, and solid organ transplantation. In ongoing research, she and her team have demonstrated that the transient display of this molecule on bone marrow cells was effective in preventing graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) and facilitating engraftment in preclinical models. This concept is presently being pursued for testing in a large animal model of GVHD as a prelude to clinical translation for the treatment of hematological cancers. She recently ventured into transiently displaying SA-FasL on biomaterials and extracellular vesicles for immunomodulation as it applies to allogeneic islet transplantation for the treatment of type 1 diabetes and GVHD. The research outcomes from the indicated studies have been published extensively in high-ranking scientific journals, such as Immunity, ACS Nano, and Nature Materials.
Academic Information
Office
1030 Hitt St
Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building
Columbia, MO 65211
United States
Research Interests
- Type 1 diabetes and autoimmune disease
- Immune tolerance
- Antigen-specific immunotherapy
- Cell-based therapies
- Cancer immunoprevention
Areas of Expertise
- β-cell replacement/Islet transplantation Immunotherapies to minimize immunosuppression
- Cancer Immunoprevention
- Translational immunology
- Prevention of autoimmunity and transplant rejection
- Apoptosis and elimination of autoreactive T cells
Education & Training
Fellowship
1999 - 2003 University of Louisville, Kentucky
1998 - 1999 Bilkent Univeristy, Ankara
Post-Graduate School
1998 PhD, Biology & Genetics, Ankara University
1993 MSc, Medical Biology & Genetics, Gazi University, School Medicine
1990 BS, Ankara University
Awards & Honors
- 2000-Transplant Young Investigator Award, American Society of Transplantation
- 2001-2003: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ohio Affiliate
- 2002-Co-inventor of ProtEx™, a patented platform for localized delivery/display of immunomodulatory proteins
- 2003-Young Investigator Awards (1st & 2nd), American Transplant Congress
- 2003-First Place, Scientific Importance, Research! Louisville
- 2003-Third Place, Most Promising Basic Science, Research! Louisville
- 2010, 2012, 2016—Celebration of Faculty Excellence Award, University of Louisville
- 2024-2029 Co-recipient of nearly $3.8 million in NCI funding to advance cancer immunoprevention research toward clinical translation
- 2025-JDRF-funded research award for developing PD-L1-modified biomaterials to promote islet-transplant tolerance
- 2012-present: Recipient of major competitive research funding from NIH, Breakthrough T1D/JDRF, and the U.S. Department of Defense for translational immunotherapy research.
