Professor Aziz Sancar is a world-renowned molecular biologist and co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking mechanistic mapping of DNA repair. After studying medicine at Istanbul University, Sancar moved to the USA, where he now serves as the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A recipient of the Hyman L. Battle Distinguished Cancer Research Award, he also co-founded the Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation, a prominent cultural center dedicated to supporting Turkish students and promoting closer Turkish-American academic exchanges.