Dr Ilke Turkmendag is Reader in Biomedicine and Society at Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University. Her interdisciplinary research spans Science and Technology Studies (STS), medical sociology, and bioethics, focusing on the socio-legal and ethical implications of emerging biotechnologies. Her research focused on human reproductive and biomedical technologies, including donor conception, embryo research, human egg provision for stem-cell science, mitochondrial replacement techniques, maternal epigenetics, human germline editing, and longevity technologies, with particular attention to their social, ethical, and regulatory consequences.
She has received funding from the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness, ESRC/BBSRC, and the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust. She currently holds a BBSRC grant supporting collaborative ageing-research initiatives with the Babraham Institute and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange award (REVICON). Dr Turkmendag is a member of the Wellcome Trust Social Sciences Discovery Advisory Group and the AHRC Peer Review College, has served on leading socio-legal committees, and regularly contributes to public and policy engagement, including work with the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.