Draft:Rana Babaç Çelebi

Dr.Rana Babaç Çelebi (Turkish: [raa·nuh] born August 22, 1984) is a Turkish academic, social entrepreneur and aromatic plants cultivator. Çelebi's academic work and research focuses on history of incense, perfume and eau de Cologne within the greater subject of history of medicine at Istanbul Medipol University's Medicine and Healthcare Sciences Faculty. By studying ancient texts and recreating the old medicine, perfume and incence formulas, Çelebi aims to re-create simple and useful drug recipes of the past - backed up by modern clinical research. She is one of the leading faces in the development of formal education on perfumery in Turkey. Writer of first educational Turkish book on aromatherapy, Çelebi is also the founder of Turkey's first online medicinal and aromatic plants library - CerciYusuf.org.

Early Life
Rana Babaç Çelebi was born in Istanbul as the 3rd generation grand-daughter of a famous Anatolian folk healer from Adana (Ancient name: Anazarbus) - Çerçi Yusuf and hence Çelebi was drawn to medicinal plants and traditional medicine from a very young age.

Education & Career
Çelebi graduated from the department of Managerial Sciences at Sabancı University after completing her high school education at Robert College in Istanbul. After graduating from Sabancı, she continued her studies in Sweden, where she earned a graduate degree on International Marketing from the Halmstad University on royal scholarship.

She later completed an associate degree on Pre-Veterinary Medicine at Anadolu University and went on to doctoral research at Istanbul Medipol University's Medicine and Healthcare Sciences Faculty with Prof.Dr.Ayten Altıntaş - a prominent Turkish academic who is famous for her research and books on the use of Isparta roses (Rosa damascena) in healthcare and traditional Ottoman medicine.

Rana's doctoral research focused on the use of incense in the historical discourse of treatment.

In the fall of 2022 - in cooperation with Assoc.Prof.Dr.Cenker Atilla from Sivas University and Dr.İlker Demirbolat from Acıbadem University, Çelebi visited Pergamon Archeology Museum and collected laboratory samples from 2000+ year old perfume bottles as a part of an official Scientific Research Project (EDB-2022-046) to study their contents and discuss the use of the long lost perfume and/or medicine formulas of Pergamon. As a result of this research, the team discovered world's first medicine formula preserved in a perfume bottle - a discovery which was covered by Turkey's prominent journalist Fatih Altaylı on Teketek Bilim.

Prior to becoming an academic, Çelebi worked as a part of Discovery Networks' founding team in Turkey, fund-raised for Kuzey Doğa Society and World Wildlife Fund Turkey's major conservation projects and served as a veterinary technician at an equine veterinary clinic. Çelebi's multi-disciplinary work on aromatherapy and equine-veterinary medicine was published both in Turkey and abroad as well as being selected as an award nominee during World Health Organization's Traditional And Complementary Medicine Summit in Istanbul.

Publications
"Aromatherapy in the Context of Perfumery" for Türkiye Klinikleri: Aromaterapi

Turkey's first educational book on aromatherapy "Topraktan Nefese Aromaterapi".

"The Art of Medicinal Perfume Making in Antiquity: A Case of Susinum" for Türkiye Klinikleri

Çerçi Yusuf Heritage Platform (Çerçi Yusuf Miras Platformu)
In 2017 Çelebi launched Çerçi Yusuf Heritage Platform - a project distinguished as Turkey’s first online medicinal and aromatic plants library. The platform provides public with a free-access library of information on medicinal and aromatic plants as well as vitamins, minerals, mushrooms, fixed and volatile oils used in aromatherapy - with references derived from reliable scientific publications. According to website the purpose of the project is to protect public health against exploitation as well as raising awareness on Turkey's rich biodiversity in an attempt to promote the conservation of species.

Cats of Istanbul (İstanbul Kedileri)
In 2010 Çelebi launched Cats of Istanbul - a social impact initiative to develop projects and awareness campaigns for the welfare of stray animals which has been frequently featured on national and international media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, TRT World and more.

Personal Life
Rana is married to Sercan Çelebi (born April 18, 1983 in Istanbul, co-founder and former president of Vote and Beyond, Turkey’s first and only civic domestic election monitoring organization that has mobilized over 100,000 volunteers in Turkey )and has a son.

Rana Babaç Çelebi is a member of American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy, WWF, Aromatherapy Association in Turkey, Buğday Ecological Life Foundation and Robert College Alumni Association.

In Popular Culture

 * Rana Babaç Çelebi is the subject of Turkey's renown documentary channel Habitat TV's Koku Rotaları: Hoş Kokuların İzinde (Fragrance Routs: In Search of Beautiful Scents) production which follows Çelebi's teaching work on perfumery and an episode of Ters Yön: Kokudaki Şifa, (The Opposite Direction: Curing Scents) a documentary series by D-Smart for people who lead off the beaten path lives.
 * Rana Babaç Çelebi also appears as an expert on history of medicine and perfumery in a number documentaries (Kokunun Sessiz Dili – Bahûr ) and national television programs including state run TRT's Tarih Söyleşileri (History Talks) Episode 58 and Dr. Halit Yerebakan ile Hayatın Ritmi (Rhythm of Life with Dr.Halit Yerebakan), 24 TV's An ve Zaman and Woman TV's Davetsiz Misafir Episode 10.

Conference Presentations

 * "Use of Scented Rose as Medicine According to Old Medical Texts from Europe" (June, 2022) 1st International / 4th National Health Services Congress. Süleyman Demirel University https://www.inhsc.org/
 * "From Banquets to Harem The Daily Use of Beautiful Scents in Ottoman Palace Culture" (June, 2022) National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy. Idaho, USA. https://naha.org/


 * "Çerçi Yusuf: The Heritage of An Anatolian Sage from the WWI ​​Years" (May, 2022) Anatolian Medicine Congress. Merinos AKKM, Bursa


 * "State of Aromatherapy and Phyto-therapy Practices in Turkish Equestrian Industry" (May, 2022) The Use of Medicinal And Aromatic Plants in Animal Welfare Conference. Bezmialem University, İstanbul


 * "Z Gen Connects to Nature with Science" (August, 2021) 4004 TÜBİTAK


 * "Turkey’s Agro-Tourism Potential” (August, 2020) National Rural Development Network (UKAFEST’ 2020) IPARD & Turkish Ministry of Agriculture


 * “Incense From Past to Present; History, Culture & Production” (June, 2020) Merkez Efendi Traditional & Complimentary Medicine Festival. Zeytinburnu Municipality


 * “Future of Naturals in the Cosmetics Industry” (October, 2019) I. International Aromatic Plants & Cosmetics Symposium (ARAPCOS' 2019). Iğdır University


 * “Aromatherapy for Animals” (May, 2019) Scent & Smell Summit Acıbadem Hospital, İstanbul


 * “Equine Aromatherapy: Applications of Aromatherapy on Horses with Behavioral Issues”(April, 2019) II. International Traditional & Complementary Medicine Congress (Award nominee) World Health Organization & Turkish Ministry of Health, İstanbul