Month: September 2024

Senior biochemistry major Harmon Vison has been on both sides of the medical field. Around a year old, he was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Hemihypertrophy, which gave him the inspiration to study biochemistry and eventually go on to medical school.

Hemihypertrophy is a condition in which one side of the body or a part of one side of the body is larger than the other. Throughout his young life, Harmon went through numerous surgeries with Dr. Gurpur Shashidhar Pai to treat his condition.

“Visiting Dr. Pai and having multiple surgeries has influenced my future career goals. With the goal of attending medical school, I believed that Biochemistry was the right major to achieve these goals.”

Clemson has acted a second home for Harmon his entire life, growing up spending weekends in Clemson tailgating and watching football games and other athletic events. It was his dream university to attend.

“Both of my parents are Clemson grads and Clemson was actually where they met. So I enjoy joking around with friends that if it wasn’t for Clemson, I wouldn’t exist. The family aspect of Clemson has stood out since day one and words cannot describe how thankful I am for that.”

On campus, Harmon is a part of the Honors College and is involved in intramural sports – football and basketball. Throughout high school, Harmon was always involved in a sport and has enjoyed keeping up with physical activities here at Clemson.

When he is not playing a sport, Harmon loves to hunt and fish with family and friends. Offshore fishing has always been a passion of his and he says his love for the blue water will continue in the years to come.

Academically, you will likely find Harmon studying for the MCAT or participating in a summer internship. This past summer, Harmon had the opportunity to intern with Swann and Tolbert Medicine. Swann and Tolbert Medicine practices “concierge” care, which is a membership-based healthcare that pairs exclusive, personalized care with accessibility and convenience.

“Dr. Swann and his fellow coworkers were able to provide me with a very valuable experience and demonstrated proper patient care. This internship provided me with multiple skills while also setting high goals in regards to future patient care.”

After graduation, he plans to take a gap year before entering medical school in pursuit of becoming an anesthesiologist. It has been my lifelong dream to be able to return the same care that was provided to him and to support other patients in need.

“After undergoing multiple surgeries throughout my life, I have seen both sides of the medical field. I was able to build a strong connection with my personal anesthesiologist due to his bedside manner and was truly able to be at ease before a big surgical procedure.”

Harmon is thrilled that he chose Clemson and our biochemistry program, saying it has lived up to all expectations. Harmon says the bonds that have been built will last a lifetime and the preparation for medical school has been top-notch.

“I am forever grateful for Clemson’s Biochemistry program.”

5th year Ph.D. student in Dr. Jennifer Mason’s lab Josh Turner was recently awarded an Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS) $500 travel grant to attend the EMGS annual meeting in Palm Springs, CA.

EMGS provides a forum for the establishment and support of scientists in the field of environmental mutagenesis. The society seeks to understand and mitigate the impacts of environmental exposures on the genome to protect human health through diverse and inclusive leadership in research, professional development, and collaboration.

The Travel award was a $500 award to students and new investigators given by the society to promote new PI and trainee attendance.

“It has been really exciting to get this award for the past two years because EMGS is the most inviting and engaging conference I’ve ever been to. I’ve been able to troubleshoot experiments, gain collaborators on really exciting projects that I can’t wait to start soon, and even sit down and have a drink with top investigators at prestigious institutions.”

Trudy Mackay, director of the Clemson University Center for Human Genetics and the Self Family Endowed Chair of Human Genetics at Clemson is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the genetics of complex traits and for groundbreaking research that uses Drosophila melanogaster — the common fruit fly — to study the genetic and environmental basis of human diseases.

Dr. Mackay has been elected a Laureate Distinguished Fellow of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI).

IETI’s vision is to promote sustainable and innovative practices through the harmonious development of natural sciences, engineering sciences, technological sciences and social sciences that intersect with engineering technology. IETI showcases the latest advancements in technology and science through forums, collaborations and publications.

The organization is honoring her pioneering work in the field of quantitative genetics, particularly her contributions to understanding the genetic architecture of complex traits and its profound impact on agriculture and human genetics. The IETI said Mackay’s innovative strategies have provided valuable insights into the complex interplay between genes and the environment, leading to practical applications in agricultural improvement and human health.

“This came as a total surprise – I had no idea I was even nominated! I am greatly honored to be a Laureate Distinguished Fellow of the IETI,” said Mackay.

Senior genetics major Maggie Andrews dreams of becoming a genetics counselor, someone who helps people and families understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial impacts of genetic conditions – and she knows she is in the right place to meet her goals.

Like for many, the moment Maggie stepped on to Clemson’s campus it felt like home. She loved it for the small town feel and the love the alumni showed for the university.

“It was really evident from the beginning that Clemson is not a school that you go to for four years, it is a home you can return to for the rest of your life.”

Choosing her genetics major was an easy choice, knowing a genetics degree would prepare her for graduate school and her end goal of a career in genetic counseling.

“My course of study in Clemson’s genetics program has given me a thorough understanding of molecular genetics, which will prepare me for the next step in my educational and professional journey.”

In being part of the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Maggie has some of her best friends in classes – study partners turning into close confidants and classmates becoming a built-in support system. Even more so, Maggie notes the faculty have become incredible mentors and role models for her during her academic career.

“Whether it be a professor or academic advisor I have never felt alone on my educational journey. There is always a helping hand if you need it! That is super rare at a large university, and I feel it makes our department special!”

On campus, Maggie is a tutor for calculus and tutor mentor at Clemson’s Academic Success Center, where she assists in training tutors that support over 70 courses on Clemson’s campus. Additionally, she plays on the women’s club basketball team.

“Our women’s club basketball team travels and plays other colleges in the US. We even qualified and competed in Nationals last year in Madison, Wisconsin.”

Another large role that Maggie holds on campus is serving as the vice president of the IPTAY student Advisory Board, where she serves IPTAY and Clemson Athletics as a liaison for the Student body. As the vice president, Maggie promotes the Solid Orange Friday message and helps plan and execute exclusive events for the IPTAY Collegiate Club, which is an organization on campus with more than 9,000 members.

“Last year I helped organize a conference with three schools within the ACC to help facilitate conversations about student athletic donorships involvement across the Southeast region!”

Maggie keeps her academic breaks busy too by acting as a genetic counselor assistant as Levine Children’s Hospital Pediatric Genetics Department during her summer and winter breaks. Here she assists both genetic counselors and medical geneticists in both the inpatient and outpatient setting.

“I help collect DNA samples from patients, order and track genetic testing, consent patients and families for genetic testing, write letters of medical necessity to advocate for patients and write letters to school systems explaining genetic conditions!”

This job aligns perfectly with Maggie’s future plans to become a genetic counselor herself. After graduation, she plans to attend a genetic counseling master’s program to become a pediatric genetic counselor.

Before her thyroid cancer diagnosis at 13, Brittany Avin McKelvey, Ph.D. knew she wanted to pursue a career in science. The diagnosis just inspired her more.

“Even prior to my cancer diagnosis, I knew I wanted to go into science,” says McKelvey. “After my diagnosis I knew I wanted to specifically go into research and study cancer.”

Doctors found a tumor sitting on the nerve feeding of her vocal cord and removed the thyroid and 30 lymph nodes. After the surgery and radiation, she became cancer-free and ready to fight the disease in a different way.

Graduating in 2015, McKelvey double majored in genetics and biochemistry with a minor in science and technology in society. While she was an undergraduate, McKelvey conducted research in the Smith lab for all four years studying C. neoformans to obtain her departmental honors. She also was a part of both the Honors College and the National Scholars Program.

McKelvey spent summers studying abroad at the University of Cambridge and participating in research internships at Emory University and Vanderbilt University.

In addition, she was president of Clemson’s Colleges Against Cancer and organized the Relay for Life event. McKelvey was awarded the Norris Medal as the best-all-around graduating senior in 2015 and was named a Goldwater Scholar, which is considered the most prestigious national scholarship award for undergraduates in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

“After Clemson, I went to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and obtained my Ph.D. in molecular biology and genetics in their Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology program.”

At Johns Hopkins, she researched thyroid cancer, the same cancer she was diagnosed with as a young teen. Here she also authored seven publications, a textbook chapter and multiple international presentations.

Now living in Fayetteville, NC with her new baby girl and her husband, who is on active duty in the army, McKelvey works in science policy and research.

“I am the Director of Regulatory Affairs at Friends of Cancer Research, a non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, DC that drives collaboration among partners from every healthcare sector to power advances in science, policy, and regulation that speed life-saving treatments to patients.”

She has been at Friends for 3.5 years, previously in the role of science policy and a policy intern at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network before that. In her current role, she supports the development and implementation of the organization’s research and policy agenda by generating scientific evidence and policies to advance progress in oncology care and collaborating with diverse stakeholders (pharmaceutical companies, academics, clinicians, patients).

“Some of my current projects revolve around validating the use of ctDNA as an endpoint in clinical trials, using real-world data from patient health records to understand treatment efficacy, aligning AI/ML tools for biomarker assessment on patient biopsies.”

Though she didn’t recognize science policy as a career opportunity until graduate school, it was a perfect marriage of her enjoyment of science and thinking critically about science coupled with her passion for advocacy and helping patients with cancer. McKelvey uses her scientific background and the education she learned while an undergrad at Clemson daily to evaluate trends in technology and novel research that will help propel treatment for cancer.

“I work with scientists to take groundbreaking advances and apply them to drug and diagnostic development and policy surrounding development to help get treatments to patients faster.”

McKelvey is active in the cancer community, leading a support group for teens with thyroid cancer and active with the National Cancer Institute as a member of its Council of Research Advocates. She also enjoys coming back to campus to discuss her career path with undergraduate and graduate students and volunteering with the National Scholars Program and the Honors College.

In 2023 McKelvey was named one of Clemson University’s Roaring 10. Each year, the Clemson Young Alumni Council recognizes ten outstanding individuals for their impact in business, leadership, community, educational and/or philanthropic endeavors. The honor is given to those individuals who exemplify Clemson University’s core values of honesty, integrity, and respect.

Looking to the future, McKelvey hopes to continue to work in science and regulatory policy to help patients with cancer.

In the beginning, senior Hetvi Solanki was unsure if she wanted to major in genetics or biochemistry, the two often going hand-in-hand. One thing Hetvi wasn’t on the fence about was where to purse her higher education. She loves the small town feel of Clemson while there also being so many unique people around.

“Genetics was the right choice for me because I would be able delve deep into a specialized field and also relate it to human diseases.”

Hetvi feels at home in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, knowing most of the people in all her classes, which is something she truly appreciates – being able to go through this major alongside a mini community within the larger Clemson community.

“Our professors are wonderful – some of my favorites have been Dr. [Jennifer] Mason and Dr. [Heidi] Anderson.”

On campus, Hetvi in involved in a few extracurricular activities, one of them being serving on the executive board of the Clemson University Period Project, a nonprofit organization that collects and donates period products by donation events as well as delivery drop-offs to various locations.

“We are a club dedicated to providing menstrual products to those in need as well as educating students on women’s health and period poverty.”

She is also a part of the Health Professions Advising Ambassador Program, where advisors prepare prospective and current students as well as alumni interested in pursuing careers in the chiropractic medicine, dentistry, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physical assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology fields.

“In this role I get to be a student guide for a physician at the annual Tigers on Call event and mentor other pre-medical undergraduate students.”

In addition to Hetvi’s extracurricular participation, she is also involved in Dr. Yanzhang Wei’s lab from Biological Sciences, where investigates a bifunctional fusion protein’s ability to prevent T-cell exhaustion and engage Natural Killer cells in tumors.

“I specifically work with a breast cancer cell line and my experience with this lab has really increased my confidence as a researcher and taught me valuable skills like cell culture, transfections and a number of different assays.”

With all this undergraduate experience, Hetvi plans to pursue a career in medicine.

“I am specifically interested in pediatrics at the moment but am open to exploring other specialties!”

Hetvi is from a small town in SC called Andrews near the coast and enjoys spending time with my family and friends and going to local coffee shops.

Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba, thrives in warm freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers. Though infection is rare, if water containing the amoeba is forced up a person’s nose while swimming or diving, the amoeba can travel to the brain. This will cause primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, an almost always fatal infection that results in tissue damage and hemorrhagic necrosis.

Professor Jim Morris is part of a research group at the Clemson University Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC) that has identified a compound that inhibits a key enzyme that brain-eating amoebas need to live.

After reading a 2020 scientific paper from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jillian McKeon, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab, learned of a compound, HEX, that blocked a critical metabolic pathway in certain types of brain cancer cells. HEX blocked enolase, an essential enzyme involved in glycolysis, which is a series of reactions that extract energy from glucose and is necessary for cell growth.

This information eventually led to the discovery that that inhibitors of sugar metabolism designed to treat brain cancer are toxic to N. fowleri by the Morris Lab.

Morris’ lab tested HEX against N. fowleri grown in the lab and found it was more potent against the amoeba than it was the brain tumor. Researchers tested HEX in an animal model by delivering the compound intranasally, they found that it extended the life of infected rats compared to rodents that did not receive the compound, but it did not kill all the amoeba. Morris said he thinks that it didn’t kill all of the amoeba because they couldn’t keep the level of HEX high enough for long enough.

“The experiments weren’t exhaustive. We didn’t try every dose. We didn’t try combinations with other drugs. But what we showed was that when you put the compound up their noses, it meaningfully extended their lives,” Morris said.

The Morris Lab is working with Jessica Larsen, Carol and John Cromer ’63 Family Endowed Associate Professor in Clemson’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a researcher at EPIC, who focuses on drug delivery, biomaterials and nanotechnology.

Larsen encapsulated the HEX molecule into a nanoparticle made of polymers, called polymersomes, that can help deliver drugs to the brain. Larsen’s group is researching ways to administer the drug.

“The brain-eating amoeba gets into the brain through the nose, so we’re looking to hijack that route for therapy,” she said.

The hope is the brain-eating amoeba research eventually opens a new avenue of easy at-home or out-of-hospital administration for neural therapeutics.

Detailed findings for the research involving the Morris lab were published in the journal PLOS Pathogens in an article titled “Enolase inhibitors as therapeutic leads for Naegleria fowleri infection.”

Read more in the Clemson News article. 

Senior genetics major, minoring in psychology Natalie Shay gained a passion for and knew she wanted to pursue an education in genetics since her first AP biology class in high school. When she visited Clemson while looking at colleges, she knew our genetics program would be where she landed.

“I just loved how complex genetics are. It’s what makes us unique but also alike at the same time. It’s also the explanation for many diseases, so it’s a good field to go in since gene therapies are on the rise.”

Natalie has been involved in labs, the Genetics and Biochemistry (G&B) Club and has had a summer internship at the Greenwood Genetics Center (GGC).

“I was the secretary of the G&B club last year, and I’m the vice president this year. Our club promotes fellowship among students and offers networking opportunities.”

The G&B Club provides members with unparalleled experiences in the field of genetics and biochemistry through faculty guest speakers, field trips and networking with other students pursuing research. As vice president of the G&B Club, Natalie assists with coordinating the club’s annual D.C. trip, where students visit the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Agriculture and occasionally Astrazeneca, a research-based biopharmaceutical company, to give students windows into their future careers.

In addition to the G&B club, Natalie has been involved in two different labs on campus through her academic career. During her freshman and sophomore year, Natalie was part of the Birtwistle Lab, run by Dr. Marc Birtwistle in the Department of Chemical Engineering, where she experimented on cancer cell diagnostics and therapies. The Birtwistle Lab combines computational and experimental methods to understand how cancer cells make decisions, aiming to use this understanding to better predict drug and drug combination responses.

“During my junior year, I wanted to explore my interests in neurobiology, so I joined the George Lab, run by Dr. Juilia George in in the Department of Biological Sciences. We study how early life environmental changes affect gene expression in zebra finch embryos.”

In the summer of 2024 Natalie was accepted for a summer internship at the Greenwood Genetics Center, a non-profit organization that has provided clinical genetic services, diagnostic laboratory testing, educational programs and resources, and medical genetics research to patients for over 50 years.

At the GGC, Natalie got to shadow many lab techniques such as DNA extraction from human blood, RT-PCR, Western Blotting, Oxford Nanopore DNA sequencing (her favorite) and GGC’s special methylation array test called EpiSign. She also got to see their aquaculture center that houses the zebrafish they use in their research experiments.

“The project that I was a part of is called the Genomic Discovery Project (GDP). In the GDP, clinicians refer patients with suspected genetic disorders to the GGC to investigate further. There are 3 tracks in the GDP: Discovery, Resolution, and Treatment.”

Her experience working in different labs across the state has prepared Natalie to pursue her goal of obtaining an M.S. degree in either neuroscience, genetics or a related field after graduating.

“My overall career goal is to combine my passion for genetics and psychology to create personalized treatments for those with psychiatric disorders using tools like pharmacogenomics.”

Last week, Dr. Jim Morris and Ph.D. student Sabrina Pizarro attended the 4th annual REDDI Lab Symposium, where Sabrina presented a poster on her work characterizing putative T. brucei NHE transporters titled, “Exploration of Putative Sodium/Proton Excahngers in Trypanosoma brucei.”

In addition, Sabrina Pizarro has been awarded an EPIC Graduate Translational Research Assistantship (GTRA). The GTRA is a pilot program in its second year sponsored by the Eukaryotic Pathogen Innovation Center (EPIC), the Graduate School, Clemson University Research Foundation (CURF) and the REDDI Laboratory.

The primary objective of this assistantship is to provide EPIC Ph.D. students with a broad range of translational experiences that will be of importance to them over their careers.

This spring, Sabrina will intern in the REDDI lab to gain experience working in a clinical lab setting. The Research and Education in Disease Diagnosis and Intervention Laboratory (REDDI Lab) is home to Clemson University’s first high-complexity Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified facility.

In addition to learning RT-PCR based diagnostic panels, she will learn to utilize robotic plate readers allowing for higher throughput of the trypanosome drug discovery assays performed in the Morris lab.

If you google Adam Bachman II, you will find the normal items – a social media page, some photos of him playing music, some others with the same name – but if you scroll down a bit more you will even find an IMDb page. 2015 biochemistry alum Adam Bachman is a man of many trades, music, distilling, business and more.

When Adam Bachman was an undergrad at Clemson, he built stills from scratch and began producing his own spirits in the woods – the start of his distilling passion. After graduation, Adam went on to be the head distiller at Six & Twenty, a distillery located in the upstate.

“We made all sorts of things from gin to bourbon to vodka. It was a good learning experience for me not just in production but in business practice as well.”

Now Adam is the production manager/head distiller at the Chemist located in Asheville, NC. Adam started at the Chemist when they were only making limited whiskey that he notes as subpar. This led him to start a whiskey program that would be consistent and high quality.

“I developed the single malt whiskey. It has 3 different malts that bounce off one another’s flavor profiles to give a more complex whiskey. It’s distilled in copper pot stills, which is pretty traditional. I also developed a unique rye whiskey for them that should be released sometime next year.”

Adam’s day-to-day at the Chemist can look different, between brewing, distilling and working in the rickhouse, which are warehouses used for storing barrels of aging whiskey. However, everyday Adam is putting the knowledge gleaned from his time in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry to use.

“Mashing, fermentation and distillation of alcohol are all biochemical and chemical processes all relate back to biochemistry. You could take it all the way to the genetics of how grain is being engineered and produced for this industry.”

In 2020 Adam was contacted by producers of the tv show Moonshiners: Master Distiller, a reality show where three competitors faceoff each week in a series of challenges focused on making a specific type of spirit. For the episode Adam competed in titled, High Proof Cherry Bounce, the distillers were tasked with making a 300-year-old spirit called Cherry Bounce, a favorite drink of George Washington, nearly lost to time.

“It was a very interesting experience to see show tv works. There were a lot of smoke and mirrors type deal but it was still a very cool experience to do.”

If you can’t find Adam at the distillery, you’ll probably find him practicing or on the stage playing music. He plays resophonic guitar and pedal steel with an artist named James Tucker, as well as with several bluegrass bands in the Asheville area.

Adam’s future plans are to continue to purse his two passions in life: distilling and music, eventually opening his own distillery one day.

“It would be an adventure to be a business owner as well as the main operator.”