Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Ur Özçelik

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Ur Özçelik is a neurologist in the Neurology unit of Acibadem Bakirkoy Hospital in İstanbul. With more than 23 years in medicine, her clinical work covers headache management and migraine treatment protocols, nerve blocks, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and aging, sleep disorders, trigeminal neuralgia, epilepsy, vertigo and clinical neurophysiology.

Dr. Özçelik graduated from Ondokuzmayıs University Faculty of Medicine in 2003 and worked as a practitioner physician at Mudurnu Devlet Hospital in 2004. In 2008 she spent time as an observer assistant doctor at the Clinical Neurophysiology, Clinical Epilepsy and Epilepsy Surgery Center in Seattle, USA, supervised by John W. Miller, MD, PhD, of the University of Washington, Regional Epilepsy Center. She completed her neurology training at Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital in 2009. After compulsory state service as a specialist doctor at Nevşehir State Hospital (2010–2012), she worked at the SBÜ İstanbul Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital-Neurology Clinic as a specialist doctor (2012–2015), then as chief assistant specialist doctor at the SBÜ Bakırköy Prof.Dr.Mazhar Osman Mental and Neurological Diseases Hospital-Neurology Clinic (2015–2021). She held teaching positions (Doktor Öğretim Görevlisi) in the Ergoterapi and Nöroloji departments of İstanbul Sağlık ve Teknoloji University, Health Sciences Fakültesi (2021–2022), returned to the SBÜ İstanbul Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital-Neurology Clinic as neurology specialist and chief assistant specialist (2022–2023), and joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2024. She is a member of the International Headache Society (IHS), the Turkish Neurology Association, the Turkish Epilepsy Association and the Clinical Electroneurophysiology, EEG-EMG Association, and takes part in the Global Migraine and Pain Association Working Group and the Headache and Pain Research Association Working Group. Her published research includes studies on childhood absence epilepsy, juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, migraine prophylaxis and depression and anxiety symptoms in migraine, and cognitive screening in Alzheimer’s disease.

Clinical focus

A large part of Dr. Özçelik’s practice concerns headache disorders. She assesses and manages migraine and other primary headaches, applies migraine treatment protocols and performs nerve blocks where clinically appropriate. She also evaluates trigeminal neuralgia and uses clinical neurophysiology in the assessment of neurological conditions, including epilepsy.

Her second area of focus is cognitive and movement disorders associated with aging, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. She additionally sees patients with sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea, patients with balance-related symptoms such as vertigo, and patients whose care involves type 1 and type 2 diabetes treatment. Treatment planning is individualized after clinical assessment.

How Dr. Özçelik works with international patients

Dr. Özçelik consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for other languages. The Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, arranges appointments and organizes the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the options. Video consultations are available for international patients who wish to discuss their situation before traveling.