Honors College Senior Began SBU Research as a Sophomore
Daniel Razgonyaev — the URECA researcher of the month for April — is an Honors College senior majoring in chemical and molecular engineering. Since his sophomore year, he has been working under the mentorship of Professors Tad Koga and Maya Endoh, from the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, on protein-polymer and bacteria-polymer interfaces.
Razgonyaev participated in the Explorations in STEM research program in Summer 2023 and had the opportunity to work with collaborators at Brookhaven National Laboratory on learning advanced instrumentation skills to study surface interactions. At the conclusion of the program, he presented a research poster at the Summer Symposium. He has since received URECA mini-grant support for his presentation on the “Role of surface nanotopography on protein adsorption” at an American Chemical Society conference and for his research talk at an American Physical Society conference on “Antifouling property of nanostructured surfaces prepared by self-assembly of block copolymer micelles (II): Bacterial adsorption.”
Razgonyaev is currently working on a senior design project studying the chemical synthesis of Jardiance (empagliflozin) under the guidance of Professor Devinder Mahajan, and will be presenting at the University Honors Senior Symposium on April 29 and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Senior Design showcase on May 8.
On campus, Razgonyaev has served as a teaching assistant and co-developed StudentsTeachOrgo, a YouTube channel focused on creating organic chemistry educational videos, providing a supplemental resource for SBU students. He is also an Honors College Big Sibling, serving as a peer mentor to incoming first-year honors students.
Razgonyaev co-founded American Students for Health, a student-led organization dedicated to providing quality medical aid to children’s hospitals in Eastern Europe, particularly those in Ukraine. From 2022-2024, he led fundraising campaigns to purchase vital medical supplies, including a neonatal vein-finder, phototherapy lamps for treating hyperbilirubinemia, and reagents for PCR and HLA typing to determine organ-donor compatibility.
Since Summer 2024, Razgonyaev has worked as a gastroenterological medical assistant at Brooklyn Gastroenterology and Endoscopy PLLC and plans to continue working there for the year following graduation as he applies to medical school.
On April 29, Razgonyaev will be one of fourteen SBU students to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, which honors students who achieved academic greatness while having a meaningful impact on their campuses and surrounding communities.
Read the full interview with URECA Director Karen Kernan.