Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD) Health Sector Board and GENÇ MÜSİAD visited TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM) on December 13, 2021.

During the visit, a meeting was held between TÜBİTAK MAM, MUSIAD Health Sector Board and GENÇ MÜSİAD. At the meeting where cooperation was discussed; TÜBİTAK MAM President V. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, MUSIAD Health Sector Board President Hüseyin Sarpkaya, Gebze Young MUSIAD President Muhammed Faruk Özmen, MAM President Advisor Gökhan Yetkin, GE Director V. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cesarettin Alaşalvar, GMBE Deputy Director V. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdullah Karadağ, KTE Deputy Director V. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şerife Sarıoğlan, ME Deputy Director V. Dr. Alper Biber, MUSIAD Executive and Board Members and GENÇ MÜSİAD Board Members attended the event.

"Our industrial partners are our biggest must-haves."

In the opening speech of the meeting, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, President of TÜBİTAK MAM, said: "The Health Sector is one of the most important sectors among MAM's activities. Especially in Turkey, TÜBİTAK MAM is very active in terms of drug development, biomaterials, biomedical devices, their testing and certification, establishing and transmitting infrastructures that are scarce in our country, but one of our biggest indispensables is our industrial partners."

"We are willing to work together for testing, analysis and R&D needs."

Stating that TÜBİTAK MAM has carried out important R&D studies with important public institutions, TÜBİTAK MAM President V. Yozgatlıgil said that TÜBİTAK MAM is willing to carry out studies together for testing, analysis and R&D needs that will increase the competitiveness of industrial partners.

Hüseyin Sarpkaya, Chairman of MUSIAD Health Sector Board, said: "As MUSIAD, we represent the Health Sector in Turkey with 650 companies. We have a very disciplined structure within this. We have experienced very different days in the last 2 years under pandemic conditions. In health, the production of health data in the hospital environment has now gone outside the hospital. This means that we need new technological developments. We need to innovate for this. TÜBİTAK is a touchstone, a starting point for us."

During the meeting, the Directors and Deputy Directors of the TÜBİTAK MAM Food Institute (GE), Gene Engineering and Biotechnology Institute (GMBE), Chemical Technology Institute (CTE) and Materials Institute (ME) made presentations on the infrastructure, fields of activity and potential areas of cooperation with MÜSİAD.

After the meeting, TÜBİTAK MAM President V. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, MÜSİAD Health Sector Board General Manager Hüseyin Sarpkaya and Gebze Young MÜSİAD President Muhammed Faruk ÖZMEN presented plaques to each other.

The MÜSİAD delegation visited the Biomaterials, Bioelectronics and Biomechanics Center of Excellence of the Institute of Materials, and the Diagnostic Technologies, Immunogenetics and Vaccine Technologies Laboratories of the Institute of Gene Engineering and Biotechnology. The delegation was informed about the work carried out by competent people on site.