Simou (Summer) Sun, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the College of Arts and Sciences, has received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medicine Sciences, according to an April 10 announcement.
The award will provide Sun with $2.2 million over five years to support her research into extracellular particle-mediated signaling. The MIRA program is designed to enhance scientific productivity among promising investigators in the United States.
Sun’s laboratory focuses on understanding how molecules behave and interact at biointerfaces—boundaries where biological, chemical, and environmental systems meet. These interfaces include cell membrane surfaces, polymer–water interfaces, and water–oil interfaces. Her work aims to inform new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies as well as advance biomaterial design and environmental sensing solutions.
Sun began her independent research career at Stony Brook University in fall 2024 after earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Shandong University in China and a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University.
The National Institute of General Medicine Sciences supports basic research that increases understanding of biological processes underlying disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The institute is part of the National Institutes of Health and has funded scientists who have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes in chemistry as well as physiology or medicine.
