معرفی
Yagmur Erten serves as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Groningen since 2024. Her research integrates mathematical and computational approaches to address fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, with particular focus on cancer evolution across the tree of life and life-history theory.
Her educational background includes a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Istanbul Technical University, an Erasmus Mundus Master's in Evolutionary Biology (MEME), and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Zurich (2021) supervised by Hanna Kokko. This was followed by an SNSF fellowship at the University of Jyväskylä with Lutz Fromhage.
Research interests center on theoretical evolutionary biology, specifically examining how cancer risk shapes evolutionary trajectories including body size constraints, sexual conflict dynamics, and transmissible cancer evolution. Her work employs advanced mathematical modeling to explore somatic mutation dynamics, evolutionary lags, and cancer defense mechanisms across species. Key themes include the interplay between life-history strategies and oncogenesis, with applications to understanding cancer robustness in avian lineages and broader implications for evolutionary medicine.
Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent focus on evolutionary constraints (particularly body size evolution), cancer defense mechanisms across phylogenies, and mathematical modeling of life-history trade-offs. Recent work increasingly incorporates comparative oncology perspectives while maintaining strong theoretical foundations in population genetics.
Scientific recognition includes:
- SNSF Fellowship for postdoctoral research
- Secretary and Board Member of the Evolutionary Demography Society
- Member of the Scientific Committee for Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution conference
Her contributions extend to interdisciplinary collaborations examining cancer evolution across taxonomic groups, with particular emphasis on theoretical frameworks connecting microevolutionary processes to macroevolutionary patterns. Current work through the Erten Group develops novel models of somatic evolution under cancer risk, bridging theoretical biology with practical oncological insights.
