Spring 2025 Grantee Highlight:
Gurtej Singh

Gurtej Singh, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Research Department of Surgery
SUNY Stony Brook

The Singh Lab is pushing the boundaries of regenerative medicine by developing engineered skin that arrives ready to connect, heal, and regenerate—even in the harshest wound environments.

Severe injuries such as burns, diabetic ulcers, and radiation damage often resist healing because traditional skin grafts lack functional blood vessels and struggle to integrate into inflamed or oxygen-deprived tissue. The Singh Lab is addressing this challenge with skin constructs that feature pre-formed vascular networks and preserved extracellular matrix (ECM) cues, essential for integration and healing.

While vascular networks have been developed in lab settings, a major obstacle remains: ensuring these vessels reliably connect with the body’s circulation. The Singh Lab is studying the biological signals that guide this connection and whether those signals can be retained in decellularized scaffolds—a strategy with wide-reaching potential.

This innovative work is the result of a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Surgery, Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, and Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook University. The research could have major implications for wound care in resource-limited settings, disaster zones, and military medicine.