Prof. Dr. Adnan Yüksel was born in 1963 in Elbistan, Kahramanmaraş. He completed his primary and secondary education in Elbistan and graduated from Kabataş Erkek High School in 1980. In the same year, he was admitted to Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine; during his second year of medical education, he transferred to Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, from which he graduated with honors in 1987.
Between 1987 and 2010, he completed his medical specialization in the Department of Pediatrics at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, followed by subspecialty training in Pediatric Neurology and a doctoral program in Medical Genetics.
Prof. Yüksel was appointed Associate Professor at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1995 and promoted to Full Professor in 2001. During his academic training, he worked internationally with leading scholars: in 1990 at Charing Cross Hospital in London with Prof. Dr. Nicole Cavanagh; in 1994 at Siena Pediatric Hospital in Italy with Prof. Dr. Alberto Fois; and in 2000 at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatric Neurology, with Prof. Dr. Michael James Painter.
In 2010, he was appointed Founding Rector of Bezm-i Alem Vakıf University. In 2014, he became the Founding Rector of Biruni University. His 2014 research was featured as a cover article in Cell, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals. Prof. Yüksel has published approximately 100 articles in internationally indexed journals, receiving nearly 3,000 citations.
His honors include the Istanbul University Science Days Award, the Istanbul University Research Fund Scientific Research Award (received three times), and First Place in the Young Turkey Summit – Turkey Scientist Award.
Prof. Dr. Yüksel is married and has two children.