Prof. Mehtap Çakır, MD

Prof. Mehtap Çakır, MD is an endocrinology specialist at Acibadem Kent Hospital (Izmir), where she works in the Endocrinology & Metabolism unit. Her subspecialty areas are the treatment of pituitary diseases and thyroid diseases and treatment, and her practice also covers type 1 and type 2 diabetes and obesity. She has more than 33 years in medicine and joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2023. Dr. Çakır is a member of the Turkish Endocrinology and Metabolism Association (since 2000), the European Society of Endocrinology (since 2007), the American Endocrine Society (since 2007) and the European Thyroid Association (since 2008). She serves on the editorial boards of the European Thyroid Journal, the official publication of the European Thyroid Association, and of Endocrinology Research and Clinical Practice, the official publication of the Turkish Endocrinology and Metabolism Association.

Dr. Çakır graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1993 and worked as a research assistant at Ministry of Health Ankara Hospital from 1993 to 1994. She was a research assistant at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine from 1994 to 1999, completing her internal medicine training there in 1999. She then trained in endocrinology and metabolic diseases at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, where she was a research assistant physician from 2000 to 2003 and completed her training in 2003. From 2005 to 2007, and again from 2008 to 2012, she worked in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at Konya Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine. Between 2007 and 2008 she was an Honorary Research Fellow in the Dept. Of Endocrinology at Bart’s and the London, School of Medicine and Dentistry in London, England. From 2012 to 2022 she practiced at Özel Kent Hospital.

Clinical focus

A large part of Dr. Çakır’s clinical work concerns the thyroid gland. She evaluates and manages thyroid disorders including hyperthyroidism, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s disease, thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Her published work in this area includes studies on cardiac arrhythmia types in hyperthyroid patients with Graves’ disease and toxic nodular goiter, the effect of hypothyroidism on color contrast sensitivity, incidental thyroid carcinoma in thyrotoxic patients treated by surgery, and a book on the differential diagnosis of hyperthyroidism.

Dr. Çakır also treats pituitary disorders and pituitary tumors. She has co-authored reviews on somatostatin receptor biology in neuroendocrine and pituitary tumors and on molecular pathways in pituitary tumorigenesis, as well as a study of radiotherapy-induced hypopituitarism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In metabolic medicine, she manages type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Treatment decisions depend on the individual patient’s diagnosis, test results and overall health, and are discussed with the patient after clinical assessment.

How Dr. Çakır works with international patients

Dr. Çakır consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for other languages. Before a visit, the Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as laboratory and pathology results, ultrasound, MRI or CT reports, operative notes and discharge summaries, and arranges appointments and 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 consultation is available for international patients who wish to discuss their situation before traveling.