Following this, she earned a PhD in Biology from Columbia University and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship the Yale School of Public Health.
She was specifically interested in conducting studies to genetically alter tsetse flies so it would be unable to transmit the parasite to humans and livestock.
[5] Following the sequencing of the genetic code, Aksoy continued to research ways to improve control methods of infections and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate its transmission.
[6] Upon returning, Aksoy led a research team into examining an additional control strategy called para-transgenic expression to synthesize proteins that target trypanosomes in microbes cultivated from the gut of tsetse flies.
[7] Aksoy was also one of four Yale female professors to be honored with Women of Innovation awards by the Connecticut Technology Council.