My work
Dr. Alper Karagöl is a medical doctor and incoming MIT Postdoctoral Fellow who specializes in advanced protein engineering and molecular circuit design. His foundational research focuses on developing environment-responsive therapeutics, supported by a portfolio of over thirty publications and featured cover articles that leverage his expertise in protein engineering. In addition to his molecular work, he constructs complex mathematical models for genomic and epidemiological datasets to analyze health challenges. As a biotechnology entrepreneur, he actively bridges these computational disciplines to translate structural and population-level insights into practical clinical solutions.
I am experienced in non-parametric statistical tests and correlation analysis including non-linear analysis and Kernel regression methods for orthologous sequences generated by Hidden Markov models (HMM). I use an alternative approach by analyzing the Nash Equilibrium (NE) of the Evolutionary Stable Strategy, without an explicit solution to complex dynamics. For physics-based approaches, I utilize Gibbs free energy calculations considering attractive contributions to the van der Waals interaction energy. I conduct Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Multimer Predictions for both globular and membranous proteins. For the intensive calculations, I am familiar with various supercomputer infrastructures including Google Compute Engine and Colab.
Research Experience
2026 Oct
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Incoming Postdoctoral Fellow
Laboratory for Translational Engineering, MIT
2022 Aug - current
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Collaborator - Part Time
Laboratory of Molecular Architecture, Media Lab, MIT
> Isoforms and alternative mRNA splicing of neurotransmitter transporters
> Heteromerization and contemporary modulator design
> MSA-based protein structure prediction and computational analysis
> Extensive form games and ESS aplications in molecular evolution
> Structural topology and alpha helices of neuronal transporters
> Evolutionary Profiling and Natural variants analysis,
> Protein Secondary Structure Assignment, Helical structure analysis in neuronal transporter proteins
2026 Feb - 2026 June
King's College London
Medical Student Researcher
Clinical Epidemiology and Trials Research team
> Big data analysis
> Hidden Markov Modelling of epidemiological data
> Antibiotic resistance
> Pharmacoeconomics
2023 Sept - 2024 March
University College London
Research Collaborator - Part Time
Structural Immunology Group- Darwin Building UCL
> Alternative mRNA splicing and structural alterations in coagulation factors
> Mutational dynamics and epistasis in disease evolution
> Phenotypical profiling and structural prediction
2023 Jan- Aug
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Guest Scientist - Sabbatical
Darwin Building in University College; visitor at UCL Medical School
> Evolutionarily-related proteins in Homo sapiens (Human)
> Genetic variants analysis and molecular mechanisms of related diseases
> Protein Structural Assessment of the effects of genetic variants
> Alternative splicing, and mRNA processing
> Database design with MySQL and HTML programming
Education
pre-MD research:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Neurological Transporters
Sabbatical:
University College London
Coagulation Factors
Medical Elective:
Guy's & St. Thomas Hospital - King's College London
Rheumotology
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center - Rutgers University
Neurosurgery
NYC Health + Hospital - NYU Grossmann Medical School
Psychiatry
OR Observer:
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Neurosurgery, Interventional Neuroradiology
Harvard Medical School
Head and Neck Oncological Surgery, Otolaryngology, Neurology (Stroke), Interventional Neuroradiology
Medical Doctor
2019-2026
Istanbul University, English Medical Program
Settled with honors (1st place)