Researcher of the Month
Darren Wang
Major: Biomedical Engineering; Minor: Chemistry; Class of 2026
Research Mentor: Dr. Benjamin Martin, Biochemistry & Cell Biology; Dr. Benjamin Levine, Chemistry
News and Video Feature: 2/9/2026
“ I think it's a lot of fun to be able to ideate and brainstorm with people. That's
probably what I enjoy the most. Working with other people to refine ideas and see
them come to fruition is really satisfying.” - Darren Wang, class of 2026
Darren Wang is a senior majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Chemistry whose interdisciplinary
research interests and curiosity have taken him in surprising directions as an undergraduate.
In his freshman year, he joined the research group of Dr. Benjamin L. Martin (Biochemistry
& Cell Biology), a lab which uses zebrafish to study vertebrate development. Darren
went on to develop, propose and work on a project of his own – a novel microheater
system for spatiotemporally controlling heat-shock inducible gene expression in developing
zebrafish embryos called the BOOPTHAT, with the support of a URECA summer research
grant (2024). This work led to a first-author methods manuscript (2025) currently
available on bioRxiv, poster presentations at URECA symposia (May 2024 and 2025), and an oral presentation
at the Developmental Biology New York (DBNY) conference (December 2025) where Darren
was recently awarded a “best talk” award.
In addition, Darren’s burgeoning interest in optogenetics led him to contact Dr. Andrew Woolley at the University of Toronto and to propose a novel optogenetic transcription system actuated by two wavelengths of light, allowing improved spatial resolution of transgene activation. To support this project, Darren applied for and was awarded a MITACS Globalink grant that allowed him to spend his 2025 summer in Toronto working and developing the project; there, he also was involved in a collaboration with Dr. Mohammed Mojahedi on the idea of using holography for achieving improved spatiotemporal control. Darren is continuing to work on these projects, and together with Dr. Martin is involved in a collaborative NFRF proposal for future implementation of the holography project in the zebrafish model.
In the coming spring semester. Darren will be working in Dr. Benjamin Levine’s group to gain experience working in a theoretical chemistry lab where he will be working on exploring excited-state chemical reaction dynamics in strong laser fields. He is also currently working on his BME Senior Capstone team project on “Modular dynamic pressure redistribution platform for bedsore prevention and sleep quality improvement.” Darren is currently in the process of applying to graduate programs and plans to pursue a PhD in biophysics following graduation.
On campus, Darren is active as an Epee fencer in the University fencing club. He also has been involved in the 3D Printing Assistive Technologies for Health (3D PATH) club, and applied his skills to designing a motor-driven 3D-printed automatic dog-treat dispenser for wheelchair-bound individuals to use to interact with their service dogs (2024-present). The project is being done in collaboration with Canine Companions, a nonprofit organization working to provide service dogs to people with disabilities.
Darren is a graduate of John Jay Senior High School. A formative high school experience was his research internship at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, in the Ophthalmology Department. Darren’s hobbies include fencing, building things, hiking, and cello. Below are excerpts of his interview with Karen Kernan, URECA Director.
The Interview:
I’ve been working on developing tools to manipulate the timing and location of gene expression in developing embryos. I believe these types of tools will be important for furthering our understanding of animal development.
I'm in Dr. Benjamin Martin's lab, where we use zebrafish embryos as a model to study vertebrate development. We have these heat-shock inducible fish lines where transgene expression can be activated with an increase in temperature. My first project was building a microheater system that allowed us to heat up a very small part of a developing fish embryo to spatiotemporally activate those genes. This sounds a bit esoteric – “we are heating up a fish, but only in part” – but it’s important since the patterns and programs of gene expression that coordinate development are spatiotemporally regulated, and we currently lack tools for manipulating gene expression at the level of precision and complexity seen in the developing embryo.
The second project built off of the first. I eventually came to terms with the fact that the probe-based microheater system was too bulky and wouldn’t scale well, so we turned to optogenetics, which is the process of using light to control biological processes. The techniques available for spatiotemporally controlling light are super well developed and the appeal of optogenetics is getting to couple that control over light into control of gene expression. I reached out to Dr. Andrew Woolley at the University of Toronto, who works on developing optogenetic switches, and I was fortunate enough to get to spend my junior year summer with the Woolley lab to try my hand at developing optogenetic gene activation systems with improved spatial control. This was a really fun experience and I hope to continue working in this field in the future.
I think doing research provides a focal point, an anchor. There's a lot of information that is covered in the different classes, and it's nice to be able to say, okay, I know this is what I'm interested in, and now I can select the classes that I want to take, and shape the way I approach those classes based on my interests. It is nice to be able to build your knowledge and intuition around a research interest.
It is definitely different. Both share the sense of trying to do something new, which is really fun, but for the lab, there is more of an element of discovery, while senior design is more about creating a product that addresses a specific need. Also, the senior design project is more of a team-based activity while in research you often have to thug it out solo.
A bit cliché, but it’s how often things don't go according to plan. It can be pretty frustrating. On the flip side though, it's interesting how much things can deviate from your original plan and how new opportunities can come up through that.
Before my URECA summer of research, I was sure I was going to get so much done. I intended to get a paper done that summer, and I had a whole plan for followup projects, and then none of that happened. But then in the process of working on those ideas, new directions came up that led to more refined ideas and exciting new projects.
I'm rather happy for having decided to try to dive deeper and deeper into the fundamental sciences. Going from mechanical engineering to biomedical engineering, taking on the chemistry minor, then taking some physics classes, … all of these things have strengthened my intuition regarding and understanding of the problems that I'm interested in, and I think I'm getting more out of my education than if I had just decided to just focus on one thing because there are a lot of insights and thought processes, and just a lot of really fascinating stories and methods, that have come out of exploring these different fields. Through chemistry and physics I’ve found cool new ways at looking at both the biological problems I am interested in studying and the world as a whole and I wouldn’t have gotten these perspectives if I just decided to stick with one area alone. To this end, I'm grateful that Stony Brook’s biomedical engineering major has a lot of flexibility in taking classes from other departments.