Semir Beyaz

Assistant Professor Semir Beyaz leads the Beyaz Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), focusing on the intersection of nutrition, immunology, and cancer biology. As a member of the CSHL Cancer Center and Faculty Head of the Organoid Shared Resource, he bridges metabolic-epigenetic interactions with immune dysfunction in diseases like colon cancer and endometriosis.

• Ph.D., Immunology (Harvard University, 2017)
• B.S., Molecular Biology and Genetics (Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey)

His research investigates how dietary perturbations reshape immune recognition pathways in tumors, with recent breakthroughs in:

• PPAR-δ pathway activation by high-fat diets
• Glycosphingolipid-mediated immune evasion in KRAS cancers
• Spaceflight microbiome-immune axis characterization
• Development of patient-derived organoid models for endometriosis

Selected publications (2023-2025) reveal trends in cancer immunometabolism, intestinal stem cell plasticity, and microbiome engineering. His work has garnered 9 major scientific awards including the CSHL Fellow distinction and Thermo-Fisher Trainee Achievement Award.

Beyaz actively contributes to:

• CSHL Cancer Center's Cancer Genetics and Genomics program
• Collaborations with Northwell Health's Dr. Tamer Seckin
• Swim Across America cancer research fundraising