Dalkara, Turgay (b. June 8, 1952, Çivril, Denizli), physician and scientist who received the Vehbi Koç Award for health in 2010. He is known for his work on migraines, alleviation of cerebrovascular obstructions, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dalkara decided to become a scientist at just five years of age, while playing in the laboratory established by his father. After completing his elementary and secondary education in Denizli, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University (HU) in 1968, graduating in 1975. Dr. Dalkara was already interested in the brain when he decided to specialize in neurology, considering the research possibilities presented by the CAT scan machinery obtained by the faculty at the time. From 1975 to 1979, he undertook his residency in neurology and completed a doctorate in pharmacology (1977-81). He carried out postgraduate research at McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Canada (1982-84).
After returning home, he began working in the Neurology Department at HU Faculty of Medicine, becoming a professor in 1993. Professor Dalkara is currently Professor of Neurology at the same faculty, while also serving as head of the Institute for Neurological Sciences and Psychiatry. Professor Dalkara also lectures on the Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Doctoral Program, jointly run by Middle East Technical University and HU, and is a member of staff at Massachusetts General Hospital connected to Harvard Medical School, generally working there during the summer months. From 2000 to 2004, he also held a number of posts on the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).
In 2010, Professor Dalkara received the Vehbi Koç Award for “studies into diseases of the brain and vascular system”. In his acceptance speech, he said: “Whatever I’ve achieved, I achieved it with my friends. Without their successes, none of my successes would have been possible. It would have been impossible for us to reach this point without their belief in our success,” he said. Dalkara has received many other awards, including the Atatürk Award for Scientific Research (1981), the TÜBİTAK Incentive Award (1987), Eczacıbaşı Award for Medicine (1990), the Hacettepe University Award for Success in Science (1991), the Sandoz Grand Prize for Pharmacology (1996), the TÜBİTAK Science Award (2002), the World Academy of Sciences Award for Medical Sciences (2013) and the Kadir Has Award for Excellence (2014).
Professor Dalkara is a principle member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences, the Science Academy and the European Academy for Science and Arts, and is also a member of the editorial boards of the Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences, the Türk Beyin Damar Hastalıkları Dergisi and Türk Nöroloji Dergisi. As well as publishing more than 100 scientific research papers in a number of journals, including Nature Medicine one of the most respected in the field, he also co-edited the book, Neurological Basis of Migraine (2017).