Suffolk Reporter

Divleen Kaur Singh, an undergraduate in the Scholars for Medicine dual degree program, has been recognized as the URECA researcher of the month for December. Singh is set to graduate summa cum laude in December 2024. She has been a member of the Stem Cell Engineering Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) team since Fall 2023, focusing on tissue engineering and designing pre-vascularized skin constructs for wound healing and skin regeneration. Her mentors include Miriam Rafailovich, Marcia Simon, and Gurtej Singh.

During the summer of 2024, Singh conducted full-time research funded by the URECA Summer program. She presented her work titled “Exploring the In Vivo Integration and Functionality of Engineered Vascularized Skin Constructs within Murine Models” at a conference in San Diego, California, where she received a “Best Abstract Presentation” award. A URECA mini-grant supported her presentation at this event. Earlier in spring, she showcased her research at the Stony Brook VIP-URECA Celebration Showcase with a poster titled “Bandaging Your Super Active Mice.” Singh plans to use these experiences for her WISE Honors Program thesis and is also involved in another project with Gurtej Singh and Nicos Labropoulos on arterial and venous thrombosis murine models.

Singh expressed her enthusiasm for sharing research: “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 University, Singh joined the iGEM team under Peter Gergen's mentorship. During Summer 2022, she led a synthetic biology project investigating Protein S deficiency in humans. The iGEM team earned a gold medal at the 2022 iGEM Jamboree competition in Paris.

Singh has also participated actively in various programs over two and a half years. She was part of the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Academic Associate program, where she learned neurocognitive testing and patient case report writing. Additionally, she contributed to workshops for Scholars for Medicine, collaborated with the Stony Brook Hispanic Heart Program, served on WISE's Student Leadership Council, and was involved with the University Red Cross Club.

Read more insights from URECA Director Karen Kernan about Singh's accomplishments.