staff 2017-2018 Editor-in-Chief: Sahil Rawal ’19
Layout Chief: Danielle Espine ’18
Head of Cabinet: Peter Alsaloum ’19
Managing Editors: Rachel Kogan ’19 Jenna Mallon ’18
Assistant Layout Chief: Dahae Jun ’19
Cabinet: Benjamin Kerner ’18 Jesse Pace ’20 Jerin Thomas ’19
Associate Editors: Stephanie Budhan ’21 Samara Khan ’19 Bridgette Nixon ’21 Lillian Pao ’18 Anna Tarasova ’19 Nina Gu ’21
Layout Editor: Lauren Yoon ’21 Webmaster: Ronak Kenia ’18
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Peter Gergen Dr. Laura Lindenfeld Kathryn Fullam Graduate Advisor: Amanda Ng
Writers: Kunwar Ishan Sharma ’20 Sarika Hira ’18 Anurekha Ravikumar ’18 Rideeta Raquib ’19 Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Anam Rabbani ’18 Andrew Kim ’19 Muhsena Rahman ’18 Meenu Johnkutty ’21 Maryna Mullerman ’20 Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 Ramanjot Singh ’19 Gene Yang ’19 Matthew Lee ’21
Copy Editors: Nita Wong ’21 Nomrota Majumder ’21 Aaradhana Natarajan ’20 Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Daniel Walocha ’19
Letter from the staff Formed in 2008 by a group of undergraduates with the intent of pushing the boundaries of scientific literature, Stony Brook Young Investigators Review (SBYIR) was created with the intention to provide an outlet for student research on campus. Since then, we have grown to publish eight issues, and have worked tirelessly with students and faculty to increase our presence on campus. In the past, we have invited several prominent scientists to speak at our biannual colloquia, including the Queen of Carbon Science, Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, Hero of the Planet, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Donald Ingber, the Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and Dr. Arthur Horwich, whose research at Yale University led to the uncovering of chaperonin proteins. SBYIR has recently had the opportunity to formally partner with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, which focuses on helping scientists more effectively communicate their work, marking a new era for our organization. To commemorate this new beginning, we have decided to rebrand our logo, a symbol of our partnership. In our ninth issue, readers will find articles that range from topics such as obesity and Parkinson’s disease to an interview with Dr. Nancy Goroff, a Stony Brook researcher and chair of the Chemistry Department. We also present articles on up and coming science technology, such as biophotonic imaging and the use of 3D printing to create cancer models for treatment. Readers will gain the opportunity to delve into primary research completed by undergraduates at the university, as Sarika Hira and Kunwar Ishan Sharma present their findings on 3’ difluorovinyltaxoids and pollutant levels in the Bronx post-9/11 respectively. To celebrate the release of this issue, we are humbled to host speaker Emily Kinser, a Master Innovator at IBM. Her work at IBM helped in the creation of Watson, and our student body is thrilled to hear about the future of artificial intelligence. None of this could be possible without the help of our staff members and writers who worked countless hours to create this publication. Furthermore, we would like to thank our partners at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences for their constant support, as well as our faculty advisors, Dr. Peter Gergen, Dr. Laura Lindenfeld, and Kathryn Fullam, for their guidance. This issue could not have been published without the help of our generous donors, so we also thank the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Undergraduate Biology, and Undergraduate Biochemistry. Welcome to SBYIR. We sincerely hope you enjoy.
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