Bertan Cakir, MD

Bertan Cakir, MD

Ophthalmology Resident, Class of 2024

Bertan CakirDr. Bertan Cakir was born and raised in Gelsenkirchen, Germany located in the western part of the country. He earned his medical degree from the University of Lübeck, Germany and started his ophthalmology residency training at the University of Freiburg. In his second year of residency he was selected for the highly competitive research fellowship program by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) under the mentorship of Dr. Lois Smith at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

During his time at Boston Children’s Hospital Dr. Cakir has worked on several research projects investigating novel treatment strategies targeting early stages of retinopathy of prematurity. Two of his first author publications were published in the Journal JCI Insight, one of which was selected as a highlighted article.

His most recent research endeavors have been focused on retinal energetics with the aim to develop a metabolic mapping device for the retina and optic nerve head. For this he was awarded the competitive Boston Children's Hospital Technology Development Fund as Co-PI a seed-stage academic catalyst fund dedicated to translating high-impact academic technologies.

To date, Dr. Cakir published over 25 articles in peer-reviewed Journals including Journal of clinical Investigation Insight, Angiogenesis and Greafe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology with over 600 citations.

Dr. Cakir completed his transitional year internship at MetroWest Medical Center, Framingham and was awarded the intern of the year award by his peers and faculty.

In his time off he enjoys road cycling, hiking and cooking with family and friends. Also, of note, prior to starting medical school, he served as a paramedic for the German Red Cross.

Position

Graduating Class