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.
General Psychology

Can Immediate Gains in Single-Session Intervention Predict Long-Symptom Change?

Panayiota Siskos ’23 Single-session interventions (SSIs) for youth mental health problems show promise to prevent and reduce youth psychopathology and may be a good alternative to the more traditional multi-session ones that are inaccessible due to logistical and financial obstacles. However, SSIs may not be beneficial for everyone, and it is important to differentiate the needs of youths. Immediate gains, or improvements, in program-specific targets, … Continue reading Can Immediate Gains in Single-Session Intervention Predict Long-Symptom Change?

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Natural World

Evening Primrose Plants Reveal Speciation Insights

Ashley Goland ’23 One enticing topic of research in the world of science is speciation, the process behind the formation of new and distinct species. Evening primroses (Onagraceae) are a family of flowers that model this procedure rather well. Now, there are numerous ways of defining a species, but when it comes to something like hybridization barriers, evening primroses exhibit multiple methods for researchers to … Continue reading Evening Primrose Plants Reveal Speciation Insights

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Genetics, Health and Medicine

Activating the Enzyme of Youth

Ashley Goland ’23 The cause of aging has long been one of mankind’s favorite mysteries to entertain, and as science advances, its secrets are gradually being stripped away. Studying chromosome structure revealed sections called telomeres, sequences of repeated nucleotides on the ends of a chromosome that serve to prevent its deterioration, and from this discovery came a revelation about age. Aging-related diseases such as dementia, … Continue reading Activating the Enzyme of Youth

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General Psychology

How Willing are Babies to Share Food?

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 Altruistic behavior is an intraspecies trait seen in no other species other than humans. Food altruism in particular involves giving nutritious food to needy strangers, even if one desires the food. Humans have developed customs and institutions to provide the needy with food, even when scarce and they need it themselves. Surprisingly, though altruism has been noted in humans, it is not … Continue reading How Willing are Babies to Share Food?

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Disease

Opioid Poisoning Rates on Long Island

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 The United States currently faces a growing opioid poisoning crisis. Opioid use can lead to significant impairment and distress, social problems, chronic relapsing abuse and even early death. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, New York is one of 5 states with the most opioid drug overdoses. Historically, those affected by nonfatal opioid poisoning tend to be white males, aged … Continue reading Opioid Poisoning Rates on Long Island

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Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

The Role of Gene Expression Variation in the Development of Mammalian Drug Resistance

Simran Kaur ‘20 Designing drugs is often challenging because identical cells within a specific network will exhibit varying genetic expression (noise), resulting in drug resistance. The source of this variation is most often stochastic, accumulations of random fluctuations occurring during transcription, translation, and post-translational regulation. Gene expression noise currently poses as the greatest barrier in finding a cure for cancer and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). … Continue reading The Role of Gene Expression Variation in the Development of Mammalian Drug Resistance

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Disease, Health, Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

Chloroquine as a Promising Anti-Viral Drug in Immunocompromised Patients Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Simran Kaur ‘20 SARS-CoV-2, a new type of coronavirus, is responsible for a global pandemic that currently has infected hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide. The virus belongs to the same family of viruses responsible for certain cases of the common cold, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The virus is incredibly contagious, spreading through respiratory droplets and exploiting commonly-found human … Continue reading Chloroquine as a Promising Anti-Viral Drug in Immunocompromised Patients Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Health, Uncategorized

Association Between Gluten Uptake in Pregnant Mothers and Children

Priyanshi Patel ‘22 Type 1 diabetes is a very common disease often occurring in childhood, with highest rates in the Nordic countries. Type 1 diabetes occurs after a destruction of pancreatic beta cells which leads to lifelong dependence on insulin treatment. There are both genetic and nongenetic factors for playing a role in the aetiology of the disease. Gluten has been hypothesized to be an … Continue reading Association Between Gluten Uptake in Pregnant Mothers and Children

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Brain, Health

A Low-Carb Diet Can Increase Brain Stability in Individuals.

Priyanshi Patel ‘22 A study on neuroimaging led by Stony Brook professor Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi reveals that neurobiological changes that are associated with aging can also be seen at a much younger age than expected. The study suggests that the effects of the changes can be prevented or reversed based on changes in diet that involve minimizing the consumption of carbohydrates. The research team at … Continue reading A Low-Carb Diet Can Increase Brain Stability in Individuals.

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Brain, Degenerative Disease

Get Your Head Out of the Game

Gwenyth Mercep ’22 Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disease associated with exposure to repetitive head impacts, such as those from tackle American football [1]. CTE can cause numerous and debilitating early-life symptoms like behavioral and mood disturbances, most notable, impulse control and depression [1]. Episodic memory loss and dementia, forms of cognitive dysfunction, are reported by patients with CTE later in life [1]. … Continue reading Get Your Head Out of the Game

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Sociology

Medical Needles in the Social Media Haystack

Gwenyth Mercep ’22 In today’s digital age, there’s a lot of potentially useful information in circulation. With many of us compelled to share monologues on social media platforms, like Facebook, the landscape of data research is being revolutionized. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania studied this change by using Facebook data to test the confluence of social media noise as indicating factors of the well-being … Continue reading Medical Needles in the Social Media Haystack

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Cellular and Molecular Science

Anchor-Cell Invasion Regulation Network Discovered

Gaurav Sharma ’22 Invasion through the basement membrane is essential to many cellular and biological processes such as embryonic development, immune response, tissue development, and metastasis. The components and mechanism of basement membrane invasion is known. There are four transcription factors that regulate anchor-cell invasion; fos-1, hlh-2, nhr-67, and egl-43. The Matus Lab at Stony Brook University sought to answer the question of how all … Continue reading Anchor-Cell Invasion Regulation Network Discovered

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