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.
Biology, Cellular and Molecular Science, Disease, Health, Medicine and Physiology, Molecular Biology

Watching Muscles Heal: A Zebrafish Model for Regeneration

Author: Diego Javier, Class of 2026 Muscle regeneration is a nuanced and important area of study in understanding how muscles recover from injury. Researchers have been trying to develop therapies for muscle-related diseases, and some have used zebrafish as a model organism given their ability to regenerate their heart and skeletal muscles. In order to study muscle regeneration. Eric Paulissen, in the lab of SBU … Continue reading Watching Muscles Heal: A Zebrafish Model for Regeneration

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Biology, Cellular and Molecular Science, Embryonic Development, Molecular Biology

GlycoSwitch: Signaling Tuner O-Glucosylation 

Author: Sajia Athai, Class of 2026 Looking through URECA presentations every year, posters detailing scientific protocols and findings of undergraduate students cover the corners of the room.  Undergraduate Advisor for Biochemistry and Animal Development Professor, Dr. Bernadette Holdener, leads her team of mentees in understanding how protein O-glucosyltransferase 2 and 3 (POGLUT2/3) is integral to separation of digits during limb development in mice.  Dr. Holdener’s … Continue reading GlycoSwitch: Signaling Tuner O-Glucosylation 

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Biology, Cellular and Molecular Science, Genetics, Molecular Biology

Genome Grazing: lcWGS Across Livestock and Agricultural Landscapes

Author: Sajia Athai, Class of 2026 Just as cells comprise the fundamental units that make up an organism, livestock acts as the core of agriculture—anchoring growth across the world. As providers of food security to sustainability, livestock is an integral part of economic prosperity and animal diversity. Livestock is assessed on measures in the agricultural industry such as disease screening, mobility, fertility, and birth weight. … Continue reading Genome Grazing: lcWGS Across Livestock and Agricultural Landscapes

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Disease, Health and Medicine, Immunology, Microbiota

Specific protein, TlyC in bacteria Rickettsia plays a determining factor in the pathogenesis of Spotted Fever disease

Author: Kang Lai, Class of 2026 Ticks are commonly known vectors that transmit pathogens from one host to another. The genus of bacteria known as Rickettsia contains a hemolysin factor that causes disease progression through lysis of red blood cells. Several strains of Rickettsia are analyzed to deduce the key virulence factor behind its epidemiology of the Spotted Fever pathogenesis.  Bacterial hemolysins are toxins that … Continue reading Specific protein, TlyC in bacteria Rickettsia plays a determining factor in the pathogenesis of Spotted Fever disease

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Biology, Cellular and Molecular Science, Chemistry

Decoding the Lon Enzyme’s Protein Recognition Code

Author: Antonia Truta, Class of 2028 Lon protease is an important enzyme within the mitochondria’s inner membrane. This enzyme specifically regulates protein homeostasis, meaning it helps keep the protein levels within the cell balanced. The Lon protease acts by breaking down damaged or misfolded proteins that lack proper structure to function correctly and may harm the cell. Lon also degrades certain regulatory proteins whose levels … Continue reading Decoding the Lon Enzyme’s Protein Recognition Code

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Disease, Ecology, Environment, Natural World

Climate Change and Zoonotic Diseases

Author:  Antonia Truta, Class of 2028 The World Health Organization’s definition of zoonosis is any disease or infection naturally transmissible from animals to humans, or vice versa. Animals are important to understanding disease transmission, with over 60% of emerging infectious diseases having zoonotic origins. Yet, to fully understand the context of zoonotic disease outbreaks, we must look at our interactions with nature in a larger … Continue reading Climate Change and Zoonotic Diseases

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Health, mental health, music, well-being

Cows’ Moo-sic: Raga and Chinese Five-Element Music on Cattle Performance and Welfare

Author: Maegan Diep, Class of 2029 The beneficial effects of music are garnering attention for their healing abilities and their impacts on physiological and psychological states on humans and animals alike. Research has implicated music in stress alleviation in laboratory animals, improvements in egg production and hatchability in quails, and extended resting periods in pigs. Cows, in particular, are currently being studied for their productivity … Continue reading Cows’ Moo-sic: Raga and Chinese Five-Element Music on Cattle Performance and Welfare

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Brain, Depression, General Neuroscience, General Psychology, Neuroscience

Contrasting Chronic and Nonchronic Depression with Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI

Author: Maegan Diep, Class of 2029 Depression varies in traits and characteristics among individuals, making its causes and mechanisms difficult to treat. Though depression can be categorized into chronic and nonchronic courses, the issue of reliable diagnoses persists, as there is a lack of evidence in distinguishing the etiology and physiological processes of the condition. Thus, researchers from the Klein lab at Stony Brook University … Continue reading Contrasting Chronic and Nonchronic Depression with Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI

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Ecology, Environment, Natural World

The Effect of Wildfires on Air Pollution and Mortality in the United States

Author: Amal Bilal, Class of 2028 Wildfires are becoming increasingly prominent and intense in the United States as a result of evolving climate change and human settlements in fire-prone areas. Although the major health impacts of air pollution caused by wildfires are known, there is less research on the direct impact of this pollution on mortality. Michigan State University researchers Zeying Huang and Mark Skidmore … Continue reading The Effect of Wildfires on Air Pollution and Mortality in the United States

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General Neuroscience, Neurology, Neuroscience

Clinical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Neurocardiology

Author: Amal Bilal, Class of 2028 Neurocardiology is a new and emerging field that examines the heart-brain interaction in the context of health and disease. Conditions such as stroke and cardiac arrhythmia are connected by the heart-brain axis: a network of neural, vascular, and physiological signals. Early and accurate detection of abnormalities along this axis is essential for improving patient outcomes. Stony Brook Medicine researcher … Continue reading Clinical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Neurocardiology

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Disease, Health and Medicine

The Heart’s Shear Stress

Author: Sajia Athai Class of 2026 Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death globally. With new surgical techniques promoting less invasiveness in the human body, doctors and scientists have realized that there is much more to delve into regarding the heart. Scientists are now exploring models allowing for insights of how fluidity functions in the arteries. One study in particular delineates the … Continue reading The Heart’s Shear Stress

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Health, Health and Medicine, Immunology, Medicine and Physiology

Protein Packaging: How Filamentation Regulates the Activity of a Key Metabolic Enzyme

Author: Sean Krivitsky, Class of 2026 Figure 1. Painting representation of large biological molecules found within the bloodstream, including lipoproteins, which store triglycerides, and antibodies The metabolism of various lipids, such as triglycerides, within the body plays an incredibly important role in providing energy for crucial cells, such as those contained within the heart and other muscles. These metabolic processes are primarily catalyzed by metabolic … Continue reading Protein Packaging: How Filamentation Regulates the Activity of a Key Metabolic Enzyme

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