Ambassadors and Councillors, like all GHI members, do not represent their employers.
Membership is individual and contributions to GHI are based on the scientific conscience of the members.
Ambassador
Assist. Prof. Dr. Birsen Bulut-Solak, PhD
Head of Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts
Selcuk University
Turkey
Prof. Dr. Hasan Yetim
Department Chair
Istanbul Gelisim University
Turkey
Ankara, Türkiye
Prof. Dr. MÜKERREM BETÜL YERER AYCAN
Erciyes University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Dept. of Pharmacology, Drug Application and Research Center, 38039,
Ambassador’s Report
Dr. Birsen Bulut-Solak: My main aim as the GHI Ambassador to Turkey is to raise awareness of GHI as an organization as well as its scope. I also plan to participate and represent GHI at local meetings. I will contribute to GHI reviews, communicate GHI messages in Turkey through online articles, and participate in GHI meetings. I also will respond to local disinformation, report activities to GHI, organize online lectures and trainings, and write blogs for the media. As a researcher, I am collecting and assessing the known scientific evidence in Turkish restaurants related to food safety, such as data on human health because there are still unknowns in terms of food safety among restaurant food handlers.
Dr. Selen Oflazer is the Co-Founder and CEO of BeWiSe Pharma, a biotechnology and R&D-driven health innovation company based at LHUSTEK – Lokman Hekim University’s Health and Pharmaceutical Technology Center in Ankara, Türkiye. BeWiSe Pharma focuses on developing evidence-based nutraceuticals, standardized botanical extracts, and clinically oriented formulations in areas such as women’s health, metabolic balance, healthy aging and sports nutrition. She holds a B.Sc. in Food Engineering from Hacettepe University, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in Management and Organization from Erciyes University. For more than a decade, Dr. Oflazer served as a Food Inspector and Dietary Supplements Specialist at the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, where she gained extensive expertise in food safety systems, HACCP implementation, labeling legislation, and regulation of dietary supplements. Combining scientific research, public policy experience, and entrepreneurship, Dr. Oflazer leads multidisciplinary R&D projects that align biotechnology, nutrition science, and regulatory compliance with market needs. Her work emphasizes high bioavailability formulations, quality-controlled plant extracts, and the transformation of scientific data into safe, effective, and compliant health products. She is preparing to contribute to the Global Harmonization Initiative (GHI) Nutrition Working Group, with a focus on supporting global alignment in nutrition regulations, health claims, labeling standards, and consumer protection within a science-based framework.
Prof. Dr. M. Betül Yerer Aycan has been graduated from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy. She has conducted her PhD thesis as a Tubitak 2214 scholar in Balearic Island University, Spain and performed her post doctoral studies on neuropsychopharmacology in Basel University, Switzerland. She is the Chair of the Dept. of Pharmacology since 2007 and she has been the vice-Dean between 2008-2016 for 8 years responsible from the education and accreditation. She has been a Prof. of Pharmacology since 2018 she has been the Dean of the Fauclty of Pharmacy between 2019-2023. She has worked as a visitor scientist as the leader of Tubitak-1011 project in Colorado University, Denver, ABD in 2011. And also she was the Inventor and Manager of Drug Application and Research Center between 2019-2025 February which is one of the rare accredited drug research centers in Turkiye where the molecular pharmacology of cancer, nanoformulations, drug delivery systems, herbal medicines, cosmetics and medical devices research and development studies are being held. She has more than 120 papers on natural products, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, books/book chapters and many national/international grants in her field. She is married and she 3 sons.
