A research team from Stony Brook Medicine’s Department of Surgery, led by Research Associate Professor Gurtej Singh, has received two grants totaling $696,431 to advance their work on wound healing and tissue regeneration. The Mathers Foundation awarded $646,431 and the Technology Accelerator Fund provided an additional $50,000.
These awards build on previous seed grants Singh’s team received from the Stony Brook Department of Surgery in 2017 and 2019. The research group had earlier been recognized as winners in the Life Sciences category at the Long Island High Tech Incubator’s 2024 Venture Champions Challenge for their advanced wound-care patch solution.
Department Chair Apostolos Tassiopoulos said, “The Department of Surgery has supported our early career research faculty through seed grants, and the grants awarded to Dr. Singh and his team are a testament of the importance of these investments. This support will empower the research team, led by Dr. Singh, to continue pursuing innovative ideas, enhance cross-departmental collaborations and translate research findings to the next generation of therapies. We are thrilled with the demonstrated confidence to our department and remain committed to pushing the boundaries of discovery and making meaningful scientific contributions.”
Singh highlighted how initial departmental funding was critical for launching this line of investigation: “The seed grants from the Department of Surgery were truly the initial catalysts for our research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. They allowed us to purchase a 3D bioprinter and generate the first critical data on vascularized skin constructs. That early support made this line of research possible and directly contributed to the success of our Mathers Foundation grant.”
With new funding secured, Singh’s group plans to further study biological mechanisms involved in inosculation—the process where blood vessels connect—and improve their vascularized scaffold design for wound care applications. In addition, Stony Brook University’s Intellectual Property Partners have recently filed a utility patent related to this technology as part of efforts toward future commercialization.
“At Stony Brook Surgery, our culture of collaboration between clinical and basic sciences is driving transformative research,” Singh added.