Bedia Fulya Calikoglu works as a doctor, diagnosing and treating individuals with obesity, type-1, type-2, and gestational diabetes. In addition, she takes part as a researcher in clinical studies of operations and drugs developed to treat obesity and diabetes.
She has been working as a polyclinic doctor at Istanbul University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases for 12 years, and she is the responsible doctor of Istanbul Medical Faculty COM polyclinic, one of EASO’s ‘Collaboration Centers for Obesity Management’ (COMs). She also worked as a researcher in both Phase-2, Phase-3, and Phase-4 clinical trials and cardiovascular outcome studies of many drugs (insulin degludeg and insulin degludeg+aspart, vildagliptin, SGLT-2 inhibitors, liraglutide, semaglutide, efpeglenatide, lixisenatide) that worldwide pharmaceutical companies are planning to develop for use in the treatment of diabetes.
She also took part as a researcher in the following vital studies: An epidemiological study evaluating current diabetes and obesity situation in Turkey in the most comprehensive way (TURDEP- Turkey Diabetes Epidemiology Study); A study conducted simultaneously in 21 countries in Europe within the scope of the 7th framework program of the European Union and evaluating the effects of early intervention in patients with hyperglycemia on diabetes complications (ePREDICE-Early Prevention of Diabetes Complications in People in Hyperglycemia in Europe); Held for the first time in cooperation with a university and a private telecommunication company in Turkey, a study in which the health status and treatments of the patients with diabetes are monitored with an electronic tracking system.
Between 2009 and 2015, she completed the “Nutrition” doctorate program in the same department. She then started to work on preparing morbidly obese patients for bariatric surgery and their clinical and nutritional follow-up after surgery. She conducted a thesis study evaluating the effects of pre-probiotic use on patients’ weight loss and nutrient absorption after bariatric surgery. After this point, she started to be interested in ensuring maximum weight loss after surgery and preventing weight regain.
Since 2018, she has been working as a researcher in a large-budget Research and Development (R&D) project funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and carried out jointly with the computer and mechanical engineering departments of different universities. In addition, since 2018, she has been giving lectures to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students of both the faculty of medicine and the nutrition and dietetics department at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine on the principles of healthy nutrition in adults, nutrition of the patients with obesity and diabetes, preparation for bariatric surgery and post-surgical clinical and nutritional follow-up. In addition, she is invited as a speaker to symposiums and congresses organized by various professional associations.
She is currently excited to be part of the EASO Early Career Network board and looks forward to collaborating with researchers interested in similar topics. Her professional profile shows further details on Bedia Fulya Calikoglu’s skills, experience, and expertise.