I am Dr Polen Koçak. I got my Ph.D. at the Biotechnology Department of Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Turkey. I have also participated on an ongoing project at the Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC) at Brigham Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School, MA, USA during my Ph. D. period. I am the co-founder and CEO of Genestetix Biotechnology.
During my Ph. D, I have a great desire working on personalized medicine. Once I started searching about that, I saw the biggest problem is all healthcare and cosmetic industry provides same solutions for everyone, but science has shown that each person’s needs are different, depending on their genetic potential. That’s why I started working on developing personalized medicine technologies with the aim of providing tailor made solutions for people. Genestetix is a biotech company which provides AI Assisted genetic testing kits and as a result of the data we also offer personalized skin care products which we called smart cosmetics.
For the genetic testing kits, we have Genetic Check Up Test, which includes health predisposition results such as cardiovascular risk potential, neurodegenerative diseases or cancer suspecibility etc. Nutrigenetics test which analyses the interaction between your nutrition and your genetic makeup, Beauty and Healthy Hair Genetic Test which helps you to choose exactly the right cosmetic product according to your genetic results, and Lastly we have Children Talent and Health Test kit for children to discover how their genetic code influence their ability on learning math or music talent or entrepreneurship and also learn details about their health predispositions. Moreover, now we are working on our personalized skin care products, the first one is a slimming firming anti-cellulite gel using smart cosmetics technology . It will be on the market on November.
We were one of the finalists of women entrepreneurship contest in Turkey. Then, several associations and organizations rewarded me as a promising women entrepreneur for my work at Harvard Medical School. Lastly, we patented our plant based therapeutic product in US. Those milestones are notable recognitions received by me and Genestetix.
Yes, first of all, the pandemic has shown us the importance of life and freedom. While the all things at work were disrupted due to the lockdown on the one hand, on the other hand, we worked hard to find out what we can do against Covid-19 in the laboratory, it was an intense and tiring period. During the pandemic period, we saw that while some people had a very mild illness, some people had a very severe illness when they were infected with Covid. We have even seen that some people are more easily infected than others. According to the literature, studies have shown that being infected with covid19 or having severe illness such as respiratory disease may be related to genetic factors. For this reason, we have developed a Covid risk assessment genetic test kit during the pandemic period, which can genetically analyze the risk of being infected and the severity of the disease when infected, and analyze the effect of environmental factors on this by using artificial intelligence algorithms.
Achieving a good and psychologically healthy work-life balance can be difficult, especially when companies or people are asked to take on extra duties, or when your duties at home conflict with those at work especially for women. The best you need to do is to attain life balance when you have adequate time to pursue both your professional and personal interests. According to my perspective, I try to make a balance between home and work in order to get rid of feeling more anxious which can be resulted with less productivity at work or suffer with problems in personal relationships at home. For this purpose, I try to improve efficiency at work, focus on a task without any interruption. The another important thing for me to make a balance easier between home and work is to make myself flexible work hours, because I am working mostly in the lab, I can organize experimental hours myself. The last and the most important one is to feel more awarded while you are working and love your job. It gives you to feel satisfaction in your job.
We live in a world that is dominated by masculinity. What is your advice to women entrepreneurs across the world?
Many women struggle to reach the masculine system’s definitions of success. Not only that, but they are typically led to believe that the only way to success in life, particularly in business, is to accept this masculinity as their own. Furthermore, women are expected to perform the majority of home duties. There are great shortcomings and problems both in the world and in our country in the sense that women entrepreneurs’ are supported, women are involved in business life and have equal influence in business life with men. Being a women entrepreneur is difficult in any sense. We have cultural codes, duties imposed on women, predetermined forms of behaviour. However, today there is a more hopeful picture than earlier. Women’s awareness is higher. Their approach to self-improvement is clearer. They’re braver. Moreover, women are more combative and fearless by their structure than men. My suggestion to women who want to become entrepreneurs is not to be afraid to take bold steps. Let them continue on their way, making positive conclusions for themselves from the obstacles that stand in their way. Success is a path that must be pursued with steady steps. Once they enjoy the self-confidence and success, they will always have the motivation to work and improve themselves for more. The main thing is not to give up until you reach the breaking point. That’s how everyone who has succeeded has succeeded. It will also be encouraging for successful women to be inspired by following their stories, and I always do that.
