Founded a 100% student-run free online tutoring and mentoring nonprofit during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve underprivileged K-8 students; built a team of 250+ tutors delivering over $150,000 in free tutoring and earned local and national news coverage
Conducted in-person cancer biology research (junior through senior year) on pancreatic cancer drug treatments, running western blots, cell-culture experiments, and DNA isolation protocols after starting with a virtual COVID-19 gene-expression project submitted to a research conference
Co-founded the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) Youth Committee in 2020 to promote Turkish American heritage among youth nationwide, organizing webinars, game nights, and Turkish-speaking cultural events
Conducted virtual research on exosomal biomarkers for early cancer detection at Stanford's BAMM Lab (Canary Center for Early Cancer Detection), contributing to a manuscript under postdoctoral mentorship
Founded an educational YouTube channel teaching the Academic Games competition curriculum to underprivileged students, reaching over 35,000 views and 300,000 impressions
Founded the high school chapter of the Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan, organizing career webinars, food and clothing fundraisers, and cultural game nights to engage the statewide Turkish American community
Performed as a first violinist with the Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra from 2020, playing concerts and galas around Michigan after seeking out a community orchestra his high school did not offer
Completed the competitive Biomedical Career Advancement Program twice (summers 2020 and 2021), independently conducting a stipend-funded virtual research project start-to-finish under two mentors
Conducted Marfan syndrome research (affiliated with Wayne State University) and authored blog content for The Marfan Foundation to raise awareness of the genetic connective-tissue disorder
Edited research manuscripts for InciLab at Bilkent University's UNAM Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, using native English fluency to polish papers from Turkish researchers for submission to American journals