Her Story
About Ozlem
Ozlem Gurses serves as a scientist in the R&D microbiology department at BD, a role she has held since November 2025. In this position, she focuses on testing hospital-resistant microbes including gram-positive, gram-negative, and yeast strains, while developing antimicrobial coatings for medical devices such as central venous catheters to prevent biofilm formation and reduce long-term hospital infections in intensive care units. Her professional journey began with a medical doctor background in Turkey, where she graduated from Agent University and practiced ophthalmology for five years after completing a fellowship in ocular immunology, uveitis, and ocular immunology at the University of Illinois Chicago. She later pursued advanced studies in the United States, earning a master's degree and a PhD in microbiology from New York Medical College in 2023, followed by two years of postdoc research at the same institution. Gurses also passed the USMLE exams and maintains active memberships in the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Microbiology Society, and holds leadership experience in the Turkish Ophthalmology Society. She attributes her success to strong family support, involvement in sports such as running marathons and 10K races to raise funds for organizations, and guidance from her mentor Dr. Doris Bucher.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ozlem
01What do you attribute your success to?
Family support is very important. As an immigrant I was alone beginning of my master's and PhD years so you need to like I was involved in sports like besides your career you need to involve some either art or sport if you are alone kind of in this journey. Because like the human relationships kind of you it may it might increase your stress but like art music sports when you feel yourself alone again in this in these fields and you feel your achievements other than signs in these fields you feel that relax.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I received actually from my mentor she's very trustful. I mean she believes me that I will achieve as an independent woman. She believes both the woman power. And like the woman scientist in this field the achievements that she trusted me that I saw myself in this field. So the mentor. I trusted my mentor and she supported me real by her heart.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Actually they need to work hard they need to make plans short-term plans like the immediate plans they need to achieve because when you do long-term plans you might get disappointed at some point. Like the everyday plans like the everyday you need to work hard to yourself. To like the exp like for our as a scientist experimental designs they might develop their experimental designs depending on the results. So it's kind of building every day. It's kind of not the chronic but the kind of acute phases to develop their carriers in the field. So The first step is kind of hard but after you get the results of your experiments and to prove your self then you feel a little bit calmness you believe yourself that you you're gonna achieve this. But like at initial steps like everyday plans is very important.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I'm immigrant so kind of still the kind of the it's difficult to prove yourself as an immigrant. You you need to work twice hard to prove yourself. When you have different certifications so Still the life industry is difficult for the immigrants.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.