Undergrad in Scholars for Medicine Program Excels at Collaborative Research

Divleen Kaur Singh - the URECA researcher of the month for December -is a biology major (interdisciplinary specialization) in the Scholars for Medicine dual degree (BS/MD) program, on track to graduate summa cum laude in December 2024. Since Fall 2023, Singh has been a valued, productive member of the Stem Cell Engineering Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) team, where she works on tissue engineering and the design of pre-vascularized skin constructs for eventual use in wound healing and skin regeneration under the mentorship of Miriam Rafailovich, distinguished professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering; Marcia Simon, professor in the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology; and Gurtej Singh, research associate professor in the Department of Surgery.

After a summer of full-time research funded by the 2024 URECA Summer program, Singh had the opportunity to present "Exploring the In Vivo Integration and Functionality of Engineered Vascularized Skin Constructs within Murine Models" at the 2024 Plastic Surgery The Meeting conference in San Diego, California, this past September and was recognized with a "Best Abstract Presentation" award. She also received a URECA mini-grant to support her conference presentation. Earlier this spring, Singh presented a poster titled"Bandaging Your Super Active Mice" at the 2024 Stony Brook VIP-URECA Celebration Showcase. She plans to use the research experiences from the VIP team for her WISE Honors Program thesis and is also helping with and learning about a separate Department of Surgery research project with Singh and Nicos Labropoulos, professor in the Department of Surgery, on the development of an arterial and venous thrombosis murine model to improve clinical outcomes.

Singh shares her favorite part about the research experience: "When you're able to share the impact of your research with others and help them understand what you do, you can connect with them and explain the potential of your research. Sometimes, you're able to spark interest in students and motivate them. "

In her first year at Stony Brook, Singh joined the iGEM/International Genetically Engineered Machines team mentored by Peter Gergen, distinguished service professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, in her freshman year. During Summer 2022, she worked as a wet lab team leader on a synthetic biology project to investigate Protein S deficiency in humans, a project for which the iGEM team earned a gold medal in the 2022 iGEM Jamboree competition in Paris.

For the last two and a half years, Singh has also been active in the Department of Emergency Medicine's Academic Associate program, where she was trained to perform neurocognitive testing and write patient case reports. In addition, she served on the Student Leadership Council for WISE, helped organize workshops for Scholars for Medicine, was a member and collaborator with the Stony Brook Hispanic Heart Program, and was on the E-board of the University Red Cross Club.

Read the full interview with URECA Director Karen Kernan.