TÜBA-GEBİP Award Recipient Prof. Dr. Tekkeşin Elected as IAOP President
TÜBA-Outstanding Young Scientist (TÜBA-GEBİP) Awardee and Professor at the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Prof. Dr. Merva Soluk Tekkeşin, has been elected president of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists (IAOP) for the 2028–2030 term.
Prof. Dr. Merva Soluk Tekkeşin, who conducts international research in the field of oral and maxillofacial pathology and whose scientific research focuses particularly on this area, has been elected President of the IAOP. This election is significant in terms of raising the international profile of Türkiye’s scientific expertise in this field.
The International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists (IAOP) is an international organization dedicated to fostering international collaboration among scientists and specialists in the field of oral and maxillofacial pathology, promoting the exchange of scientific knowledge and experience, and contributing to the scientific advancement of the field.
Who is Prof. Dr. Merva Soluk Tekkeşin?
She graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry at Istanbul University (IÜ) in 2003. In 2010, she completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Tumor Pathology, Division of Clinical Oncology, at the IÜ Institute of Oncology. She was promoted to associate professor in 2015 and to professor in 2021.
Prof. Dr. Tekkeşin’s primary areas of interest include odontogenic lesions, fibro-osseous lesions, oral cancers, oral potentially malignant lesions, as well as digital pathology and artificial intelligence applications. Between 2009 and 2010, she worked as a research fellow at the Department of Head and Neck and Oral Pathology at Guy’s Hospital, King’s College London, under a temporary diploma equivalency program. During this period, she became the first international fellow to be accepted into the Tier 5 program in the United Kingdom and to successfully complete the process; the award was presented by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. From 2010 to 2014, she served as secretary of the Head and Neck Pathology Working Group of the Federation of Pathology Societies. She also served as secretary of the same federation’s Informatics Working Group from 2021 to 2023.
From 2014 to 2020, she was elected twice in a row to serve as the European representative of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists (IAOP). From 2020 to 2026, she served on the board of directors of the same organization as its first digital communications representative. In July 2026, Prof. Dr. Merva Soluk Tekkeşin was unanimously elected as the World President of the IAOP for the 2028–2030 term; she will continue to serve on the board of directors as President-Elect until 2028.
Prof. Dr. Tekkeşin, one of the 13 members of the International Consortium on Odontogenic Tumors (which was founded in 2021 and comprises experienced pathologists in the field from around the world) has authored and edited numerous publications indexed in international databases, including chapters in several books such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Baş ve Boyun Tümörleri Sınıflaması (Classification of Head and Neck Tumors), published in 2017 (4th edition) and 2022 (5th edition).
Tekkeşin, who received the 2019 TÜBA Outstanding Young Scientist Award for her work in the field of health sciences, specifically in artificial intelligence and oral cancers, continues her research at the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University (AÜ).