Sun Receives MIRA Award From National Institute of General Medicine Sciences

Simou (Summer) Sun, an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry, has received a prestigious Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medicine Sciences (NIGMS).

Sun's award, "Deciphering the regulatory mechanisms of extracellular particle-mediated signaling," will provide $2.2 million over five years. The NIH MIRA program is intended to enhance scientific productivity for the nation's highly talented and most promising investigators.

Sun's laboratory studies how molecules behave, interact, and function at biointerfaces - the boundaries where biological, chemical, and environmental systems meet. These interfaces, such as cell membrane surfaces, polymer-water interfaces, and water-oil interfaces, play critical roles in cell biology, environmental processes, and industrial chemistry. The lab aims to understand and engineer molecular behavior at these interfaces, with the ultimate goal of informing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, advancing the design of soft biomaterials, and developing next-generation solutions for environmental sensing and remediation.

Sun earned her BS in chemistry from Shandong University in China and her PhD in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University. In the fall of 2024, she began her independent research career at Stony Brook University.

NIGMS supports basic research that increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. NIGMS is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a strong track record of funding scientists who go on to receive Nobel Prizes, including 51 in chemistry and 46​ in physiology or medicine.