Volkan Atalay

Volkan Atalay is a Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. His research focuses on machine learning applications in bioinformatics, data stream analysis, and drug discovery. He has held leadership roles including Vice President for Research at METU (2010–2016) and chaired the Department of Computer Engineering (2007–2008).

• Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from Université Paris Descartes (1993), followed by postdoctoral work at Virginia Tech (2004–2005).

Research Interests: Machine learning for bioinformatics (drug-target interaction prediction, protein function annotation), data stream clustering algorithms, and deep learning applications in drug discovery. Key projects include CROssBAR (biomedical knowledge graphs) and DEEPScreen (drug-target interaction prediction tools).

Recent publications (2020–2023) emphasize hybrid deep learning models, data fusion for energy forecasting, and open-source protein annotation benchmarks. Awards include the Best Poster Award at GLBIO 2017 for iBioProVis visualization work.

• Current grants: SmartHome Consortium (data stream analytics) and projects on biomedical relation curation.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory and collaborates with international consortia like the CAFA challenge.