Background
Meral Gunay-Aygun is a professor of pediatrics and genetic medicine and director of the Metabolic Genetics Clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is board certified in pediatrics, clinical genetics and clinical biochemical genetics. Dr. Gunay-Aygun specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of children and adults with inherited metabolic diseases. She oversees the clinical operations of the metabolic service including diagnostic evaluation and follow-up of newborns with abnormal newborn screens for inherited metabolic diseases. Dr. Gunay-Aygun earned her medical degree from Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. She completed pediatrics and medical genetics residencies at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and a biochemical genetics fellowship at the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, where she continues her research as a principal investigator. She has made numerous research contributions, especially in the study of inherited ciliopathies, for which she has earned international recognition.
Dr. Gunay-Aygun received the Innovative Leadership Award from Genetic Alliance, as well as the NHGRI Merit Award for her research on Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease/Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis.
She is a member of myriad professional organizations, including the American Society of Human Genetics, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Pediatric Research and the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders.