Our mission is to bring together multidisciplinary experts, students, and scholars in Turkey and abroad in order to develop measurement tools, assess effects of stigma, and elucidate mechanisms for these effects through diverse research projects. İSTAR will help examine the whole stigma process using a holistic perspective: an infrastructure to help researchers to examine not only affected populations but also the stigmatizers.

We envision to be the first and leading stigma research laboratory in Turkey. Our goal is to support and encourage research to assess the nature, determinants, and effects of stigma toward people living with different identities and conditions (e.g. stigma related to ethnicity, race, chronic diseases, living as a refugee).

At the ISTAR Lab, we value the contributions of individuals from all different backgrounds. We believe that by fostering an inclusive and diverse environment, we can better comprehend and address issues regarding the experience of stigma in different domains. We have no tolerance for any sort of discrimination based on background. Additionally, at our lab, we value honesty at all levels of conducting and disseminating research findings. Along with advancing the literature on stigma through our research, we believe in the importance of having meaningful impacts on the lives of those affected by it.