Earning his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Cincinnati (UC) at the age of 17, İsmail Günaçar is following the footsteps of Nobel laurate Aziz Sancar. As the second-youngest to ever earn a UC baccalaureate degree, Günaçar entered the university when he had just celebrated his 13th birthday. Coming from northwestern Turkish province of Rize, his parents moved to the U.S. when their children were young. Günaçar is currently working at Professor Pat Limbach's laboratory on research to improve the efficiency of nucleotides.

"Normally, the program I entered is for students in the final year of high school. I was in the 10th grade. When I was 17, I graduated from the university and now want to do a master's degree in the faculty of medicine. I am happy to hear of the success of Aziz Sancar, I take him as an example and follow his path," he told the Turkish daily, Sabah. Günaçar said he received an honor award for his studies. He has also been included in the university's leadership institute. "The institute has helped me to create a vision. I want to work in the health sector in Turkey in the future," he said.