Aziz Sancar is a world-renowned scientist best known for his groundbreaking research on DNA repair mechanisms. He was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his scientific studies on how cells repair damaged DNA and preserve genetic information.

Aziz Sancar was born on September 8, 1946, in the Savur district of Mardin, Turkey, as the seventh of eight children in a farming family. He is a cousin of Mithat Sancar, a member of the Turkish parliament, as their fathers were first cousins. His eldest brother, Kenan Sancar, who was nine years older than him, retired with the rank of Brigadier General. From the third grade of primary school until graduation, Aziz Sancar studied in Ankara while living with this brother. He completed his middle school and high school education in Savur and Mardin.

After high school, Aziz Sancar enrolled in Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine and completed his medical education in 1969. Following graduation, he worked for two years as a physician at a rural health clinic in a village in his hometown of Savur.

With a scholarship from TÜBİTAK, Aziz Sancar moved to the United States to pursue his doctoral studies. He completed his PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Texas in Dallas in 1977, focusing on DNA repair. He later earned his associate professorship at Yale University with further research in the same field. In 1982, he joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he conducted extensive research in Biochemistry and Biophysics, concentrating on DNA repair, cell cycle regulation, cancer treatment, and the biological clock.

Throughout his academic career, Aziz Sancar has published 415 scientific articles and 33 books. Together with his wife Gwen Boles Sancar, he co-founded the “Turkish House” student guesthouse in Carolina to support Turkish students studying in the United States. The couple also established the Aziz & Gwen Sancar Foundation to assist Turkish students abroad and to strengthen Turkish–American relations.

Aziz Sancar is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Turkish Academy of Sciences. He received the Vehbi Koç Award in 2007. He was elected as a full member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2005 and of the Turkish Academy of Sciences in 2006.

Aziz Sancar is married to Gwen Boles Sancar, who is also a professor of biochemistry and a faculty member. He currently serves as a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Thanks to his pioneering research mapping how cells repair damaged DNA and protect genetic information, Aziz Sancar was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The prize was granted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and shared with Swedish scientist Tomas Lindahl and American scientist Paul Modrich for their contributions to the field of DNA repair.

Awards
2015 – Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2007 – Vehbi Koç Award
2006 – TÜBA (Turkish Academy of Sciences) Award
2005 – Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
2004 – American Academy of Arts and Sciences Award
1997 – TÜBİTAK Award
1995 – National Institutes of Health Award
1990 – American Society for Photobiology Award
1984 – National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award

Source: Biyografiler.com