NEWS

Istanbul Nişantaşı University's International Collaborations were established by two valuable researchers from Harvard University School of Public Health, Dr. Amy Nichols and Dr. Faria Khan visited our university and shared their knowledge and experiences with us and held a workshop on joint research. Nichols and Khan are world-renowned experts who have carried out important studies in the field of public health. Amy Nichols is an expert in nutritional science, focusing her work on pregnancy nutrition, reproductive health, and women's long-term health outcomes. Faria Khan specializes in environmental toxicology and researches the effects of air pollution and environmental pollutants on human health.

The meeting held with our Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Medicine students in the Senate Room of our University was very productive. After introducing themselves and their research areas, our guests held an interactive question-answer session with our students. Our students had the opportunity to hear firsthand what they should pay attention to in order to be included in the research ecosystem abroad and their questions about the topics they are curious about. During the meeting, questions were asked about the importance of scientific research, especialy in the field of health, within the speakers' areas of expertise, the relationship between alergy and nutrition, environmental toxicology, geneticaly modified foods, and the relationship of synthetic foods with toxic mechanisms in the body. Nichols and Khan contributed to our students' academic and career planning by providing detailed answers to their questions.

Following this productive meeting, at the meeting held with our Rector and Faculty administrators, views were exchanged on cooperation opportunities between our university and Harvard University and new work topics that could be carried out jointly. It was shared that international collaborations, which take place in different forms such as sharing academic information and resources, developing joint research projects and implementing student exchange programs, are among the most important practices and goals of Istanbul Nişantaşı University. We shared our belief that international collaborations enable students and faculty to interact with different cultural perspectives and increase global awareness. It was also emphasized that research collaborations increase knowledge capacity. Areas of cooperation were determined at the meeting, whr the opportunities available at our university and possible project ideas were evaluated. Areas for cooperation included issues such as nutrition and climate change policies, immigrant health programs and women's health projects.

Amy Nichols and Faria Khan from Harvard University expressed their appreciation for our students' perspectives and curiosity on the subjects. We believe that such events are of great importance in improving the academic and research capacity of our university.