Dr. Haberal received his medical degree from Ankara University Medical School in Ankara, Turkey. He completed his surgical residency at Hacettepe University in 1971. In 1973, Dr. Haberal traveled to the United States to begin his fellowship at the Shriners Burns Institute in Galveston to work in the field of burns, followed by a fellowship at the Colorado University Medical School Transplantation Center in Denver. Upon his return to Turkey, he focused his talents as a surgical clinician, educator, and organizer on the societal challenges presented by burn injury. Dr. Haberal has played a pivotal role in the development of transplantation and burn capabilities and established the first Transplantation and Burn Treatment centers in Turkey.

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He pioneered experimental studies and was the first to perform the first living-related kidney transplantation in 1975, the first deceased-donor kidney transplantation in 1978, and the first local deceased-donor kidney transplantation in Turkey in 1979. He is the first person to perform the first successful deceased-donor liver transplantation in Turkey, in the Middle East, and in Northern Africa in 1988. This was followed by the first pediatric segmental living-related liver transplantation in Turkey, the region, and in Europe in 1990 and immediately succeeded by the first adult segmental living-related liver transplantation (left lobe) in the world in 1990. On May 16, 1992, Prof. Haberal performed a combined liver-kidney transplantation from a living-related donor, which was the first operation of its kind in the world.

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Dr. Haberal also spent time abroad and brought state-of-the-art technology and approaches back to Turkey. One of Dr. Haberal’s key achievements was establishing Başkent University in 1993 to improve access to education in his country. In 1995, the Turkish Burn and Fire Disaster Society, and in 2003, the Başkent University Burn and Fire Disaster Institute were founded by Dr. Haberal, and modern burn units were established in the intensive care units of three hospitals in different cities. He organized the first national burn meeting in Turkey in 1979. He founded the Turkish Burn and Fire Disaster Society (TYAD) in 1995 and the Middle East Burn and Fire Disaster Society (MEBFDS) in 1999. In 2021, he successfully launched the Burn Care and Prevention journal to create an arena to exchange information among all engaged in the field of burn care and prevention. He served as the President of ISBI for the term 2006-2008, which he presided over in Montreal. His leadership in burn care services and his active collaboration with regional and global institutions have led to the establishment of numerous burn care centers and the training of many young physicians.

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In 2020, His Majesty King Felipe VI, King of Spain, bestowed upon him the award of The Spanish Order of the Civil Merit (Cruz de Oficial) in recognition of the professional career of Professor Haberal in the fields of Medicine and Education. In 2022, he was awarded the Ihsan Doğramacı Family Health Foundation Prize by the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) for his remarkable services in the field of family health.