M.D. Mustafa Bozkurt

As a 28-year-old marine biologist, my rare desmoid tumor diagnosis threatened my ability to dive. Dr. Bozkurt designed a targeted therapy protocol that shrank the tumor without damaging surrounding tissue. Six months later, I'm back documenting coral reefs, with Dr. Bozkurt joking he expects underwater photos from my follow-ups.

My 82-year-old grandmother, a retired tapestry weaver from Anatolia, presented with metastatic breast cancer that five other oncologists called untreatable. Dr. Bozkurt noticed a unique biomarker pattern others missed. His gentle combination of immunotherapy and palliative care gave her fourteen meaningful months to complete her final tapestry, which now hangs in his waiting room.

During a diplomatic posting from Nairobi, my 16-year-old son developed a mysterious abdominal mass. Dr. Bozkurt coordinated a virtual tumor board with specialists across three continents, diagnosing an extremely rare pediatric sarcoma. His precision radiation approach preserved kidney function completely—my son now wants to study oncology himself.

As a competitive freediver, my stage III lung cancer diagnosis at 41 felt like a death sentence. Dr. Bozkurt, himself an amateur diver, understood my lung capacity concerns intimately. His neoadjuvant chemotherapy protocol shrank the tumor enough for minimally invasive surgery. Nine months post-treatment, I've set two national apnea records.