Author: Young Investigators Review

The Young Investigators Review is Stony Brook University's undergraduate-oriented, all-inclusive science journal. Founded in 2008, our mission is to provide the student community with a way to learn more about the research currently being done on-campus by their faculty and fellow peers. We feature articles that span all fields, from Physics to Neuroscience, as well as original student research reports straight from the campus laboratories. Our journal offers aspiring talented future researchers and physicians a way to hone their science writing skills and spread word of their experiences to inspire incoming students to think about devoting their futures to the various fields of science.
Astronomy, Psychology

SBU Research into the Effect of Prolonged Space Travel

By Shannon Bohman Image acquired from: commons.wikipedia.org Figure 1 This picture shows an artist’s rendition of space from a spacecraft. Researchers in Stony Brook’s Department of Psychiatry received two grants from NASA and are currently investigating the effect of long-term space travel on astronauts. The first grant is a three-year project investigating new ways to provide proper psychotherapy to astronauts. Extended voyages into space can cause … Continue reading SBU Research into the Effect of Prolonged Space Travel

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Psychology

New Study Helps Define “Stupidity”

By Lee Ann Santore The word stupid is used daily to describe a wide variety of actions. However, it is unclear of what constitutes something as stupid. A team of psychologists led by Balazs Aczel, from the Institute of Psychology at Eotvos Lorand University, completed a study to obtain a better understanding of the behavior patterns humans regard as “stupid.” Aczel’s team compiled a collection … Continue reading New Study Helps Define “Stupidity”

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Biology, Chemistry

Targeting Non-Dividing Cells in Cancer

By Cerise Carey Invasive cells, ones that travel from tumor tissue to form new tumors elsewhere within the host, have been the focus of most cancer research. In a recent study, Dr. David Q. Matus, an Assistant Professor in the Stony Brook University Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, and his colleagues found that cells in the roundworm nematode C. elegans cannot divide and invade … Continue reading Targeting Non-Dividing Cells in Cancer

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Molecular Biology

More Than a Structural Component: The Vast Biological Functions of Sphingolipids

By Ashwin Kelkar Introduction What constitutes a cell?  In a very general sense, the first successful cell-like structures necessitated a biological barrier that would mediate the flow of molecules into and out of their “bodies.”  What developed was the phospholipid bilayer, a semi-permeable membrane intermeshed with various proteins to regulate the passage of important bioactive molecules – ones that regulate cellular responses – in order … Continue reading More Than a Structural Component: The Vast Biological Functions of Sphingolipids

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Psychology

Video Games as a Source for Neural Therapy

By Tasfinul Haque Introduction Invented in 1947, the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device allowed people to use an oscilloscope to shoot “missiles” at targets on overlaid transparencies. Since then, video games have become a multi-billion dollar industry, with game developers pushing the limits of graphic technology to create hyperrealistic visuals with engaging plots. The meteoric rise in popularity of video games since the late 1970s … Continue reading Video Games as a Source for Neural Therapy

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Interview

The Ups and Downs of Undergraduate Research: A Reflection on my Undergraduate Research Experience

By Joshua Kantharia   One of the most common pieces of advice I’ve heard in college is “get into research.” It was a statement that was echoed over and over again and many of my friends took that advice to heart, only to find disappointment. They learned that research was neither easy to get into or be a part of. If you’re having trouble getting … Continue reading The Ups and Downs of Undergraduate Research: A Reflection on my Undergraduate Research Experience

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Technology

Design and Testing of Amplification Frame for Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

 By Plinio Guzman Department of Mechanical Engineering State University of New York, Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11767 Email: plinio.guzman@stonybrook.ed   By Wusi Chen Department of Mechanical Engineering State University of New York, Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11767 Email: wusi.chen@stonybrook.edu   Ya Wang Department of Mechanical Engineering State University of New York, Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11767 Email: ya.s.wang@stonybrook.edu   By Lei Zuo … Continue reading Design and Testing of Amplification Frame for Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

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Interview

Dr. Lorna Role on Science, Sculpting, and Success

By Megan Chang Earning both her B.A. in Applied Mathematics and her Ph.D in Physiology from Harvard University, her full professor title at Columbia University, and more awards and honors than can be accounted for, it is safe to say that Dr. Lorna Role is accomplished beyond the norm. She has been a member of Stony Brook’s Department of Neurobiology and Behavior for six years … Continue reading Dr. Lorna Role on Science, Sculpting, and Success

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Interview, Neuroscience

Mind Power: A Potent Medicine

By Raazia Syedda “The more you explore an area, the more questions you can see,” says Dr. Anne Moyer of Stony Brook’s Department of Psychology and Faculty Director of the Undergraduate College of Science and Society [1]. Dr. Moyer has had a long-held interest in cancer and studies the psychosocial issues that surround cancer and cancer risk, medical decision-making, gender and health, research methodology and … Continue reading Mind Power: A Potent Medicine

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Cognition

Can Music be the Secret to Making Our Future Physicians Even Better?

      By David John Davani   Introduction   It is no secret that a large population of Stony Brook’s student body is on the track to enter a career in medicine. Not surprisingly, most of those students major in one form or another of the sciences. However, medical school admissions are becoming increasingly selective each year, seeking out well-rounded students with humanistic qualities. … Continue reading Can Music be the Secret to Making Our Future Physicians Even Better?

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Medicine and Physiology

Stony Brook Medicine is among the first in the nation to offer simultaneous PET/MRI

By Surya Chalil As of October 2013, Stony Brook Medicine has become the first site in Long Island and tenth in North America to clinically offer simultaneous whole-body PET/MRI scans. In this new Siemens Biograph mMR hybrid imaging system, molecular information from positron emission tomography is combined with soft-tissue contrasts from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).  This lowers the body’s exposure to radiation and further  enhances … Continue reading Stony Brook Medicine is among the first in the nation to offer simultaneous PET/MRI

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Brain, Degenerative Disease, Neuroscience

Brain-wide pathway for waste clearance captured by contrast-enhanced MRI

By Nujbat Meraji In the past year, it was estimated that 5.2 million Americans were suffering from the Alzheimer’s disease, a disease that causes memory, thinking and behavioral issues and currently has no cure. A research team at Stony Brook University, led by Helene Benveniste, M.D., Ph.D., Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Radiology, are using imaging technique to study how brain waste can … Continue reading Brain-wide pathway for waste clearance captured by contrast-enhanced MRI

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