Department of Genetics and Biochemistry assistant professor and member of the Center for Human Genetics Dr. Miriam Konkel is part of a team of scientists that have produced the most complete and accurate look at the human genome to date, even in regions that have long been considered too complex to resolve.
“The greatest advancement in this work is that we can get into these really difficult regions and build the structure and show the genetic variation within them, and now investigate how they are contributing to phenotypes or disease,” said Dr. Konkel.
The team of 65 individuals, making up the Human Genome Structural Variation Consortium, represent a variety of the world’s populations. The team assembled near-complete genomes, advancing the scientific exploration of complex genetic structural variation.
Naegleria fowleri is a rare and complex infection that is severely underresearched. The news outlet WYFF reached out to Clemson University’s Eukaryotic Pathogen’s Innovation Center (EPIC) and its post doctoral fellow Dr. Jillian MeKon, who are focused on these organisms.
The week of July 7th the South Carolina Department of Public Health confirmed a case of Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba, in the state. On Tuesday, July 23rd, the patient succumbed to their illness.
“Naegleria is incredibly rare. So there are not that many people that work on it,” Jillian said. “It’s incredibly important, and something that I don’t want to ever be forgotten about.”
The group is actively conducting studies within the Jim Morris lab on campus to develop drugs for patients in hopes of lessening the severity of the disease and extending life. The Morris’ lab in EPIC used the enzyme HEX to further Naegleria fowleri research. The group said it led to hope for possible groundbreaking treatment.
“We are working very hard in finding a better treatment, because it is absolutely necessary. We need to work on the root of administration. So, figuring out exactly how to deliver that drug to the patient,” Jillian said.
Margo Courtney’s ’21 experience in research labs and creative inquires (CI) during her undergraduate experience at Clemson prepared her for her career at Ionis Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, CA.
“My time in research labs and my CI prepared me well to feel comfortable in the [Ionis Pharmaceuticals] lab and the background in genetics and biochemistry has made it very easy to understand the concepts of our therapies and the diseases we work to treat.”
Margo was a genetics and biochemistry double major with a minor in life sciences and worked at the Academic Success Center as a peer tutor for general and organic chemistry.
“Orgo was probably my favorite class of all of college!”
Margo was member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and held an executive position as the academic achievement chair. She also worked in Dr. Will Richardson’s lab for a CI in the biomedical engineering department.
“We developed in vitro tissue culture platforms to create technologies to control fibrosis related to heart failure.”
After graduating in May of 2021, Margo moved to San Diego to work for as a Research Associate II at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, a company that focuses on developing RNA-targeted therapies, specifically Antisense Oligonucleotides for a variety of diseases.
“It’s been a great experience, and I can see the ocean from my lab which is pretty fun! They really helped develop my skills both professionally and in the lab. I often times am asked to present my research, help with publications and attend conferences so it has the feel of academia even though I’m working in industry.”
Margo works for the Genome Integrity Group, where they mainly focus on age-related diseases and neurodegenerative conditions. Margo’s main concern is working to identify a target and relevant treatment of Huntington’s Disease (HD).
“I make in vitro neuronal models for the disease starting with iPSCs, then differentiating them into neurons or organoids, and finally try to model the repeat instability of the repeat in HD in these cell models with the hope of reversing somatic instability with our various therapies.”
The day-to-day at work changes depending on the specific project she is working on or protocols, but it mainly entails working in the lab doing cell culture, treatment and downstream analysis of Next-Generation Sequencing or qPCR.
“I knew I enjoyed the lab and wanted to spend some time in industry out of school to figure out what specific type of genetic research and science related path I wanted to go down.”
Margo’s time in industry motivated her academically to obtain her Ph.D. Last year she started back in school at Clemson in the Healthcare Genetics and Genomics (HGG) Program. Going back to school and getting a higher degree will open doors to careers that truly interest her. Margo hopes in the future to stay in industry but lean more into the translational science that is highlighted in the HGG program.
“Becoming a medical science liaison would be great to bridge the gap between my knowledge of genetic research and clinical practice as I have always loved discussing, teaching and communicating scientific concepts and ideas to make it more accessible and impactful for others hopefully in the neurodegenerative or aging field.”
When Colm Roster was studying molecular genetics at the State University of New York at Fredonia (SUNY Fred), he spent a summer working with Dr. Jim Morris as part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. When he graduated from SUNY Fred, he chose to move to Clemson and pursue our Ph.D. program in biochemistry and molecular biology (BCHMMB) with Dr. Morris.
“I appreciated not only how talented of a scientist Dr. Morris is, but also how passionate he is about his work and how dedicated he is to cultivating a familial lab environment. I chose to pursue the BCHMMB program because enzyme structure, kinetics and regulation have always been a captivating research field to me.”
As a smaller university, SUNY Fred allowed Colm to grow close to his classmates and build a community. Undergrad research is where Colm found his love for the field and made him feel like he was the first person in the world who actually knew something, which lit a fire in him.
“SUNY Fred also allowed for me to connect strongly with the faculty there and get involved in research. This allowed me to learn from people whose passion was teaching which no doubt shaped how passionate I am about my work and how I think about science. I hope to pursue a career in parasitology research because I like how weird the biology of these organisms is.”
Currently, Colm is working towards his Ph.D. in the Morris lab, focusing on understanding an extrachromosomal DNA element in the brain-eating amoeba.
“We are trying to identify the DNA sequences that serve as an origin of replication and promoters to drive gene expression. I also do a lot of our recombinant protein work and enzyme kinetics as well as some drug screening.”
Outside of the lab, Colm is grateful for the people he’s met and interacted with at the university, specifically with our weekly seminar series. Every Friday during the regular semester, the department brings in a distinguished member of the scientific community to give a seminar specifically for the graduate students.
“I get to meet and listen to talks on a wide variety of topics from people who are way smarter than I am. But further than that the students and faculty are very welcoming, kind and always open to giving advice.”
Colm is originally from Chincoteague, Virginia, “where they swim horses across the bay,” but spent most of his life Le Roy, NY – “the birthplace of Jell-O and stringless string beans.” However, he plans to one day live in a remote cabin in the woods.
In his free time Colm enjoys being active, especially on the Morris Lab outings, including hiking Table Rock “one too many times,” listening to live music and discovering small new artists, always seeming to prefer the openers at concerts. He describes himself as a massive film buff and loves science books.
“I’ll do pretty much anything if it means I get to learn.”
Kathleen Doran, junior biochemistry and genetics major from Stephentown, NY, stayed on campus this summer in working on Creative Inquiry (CI) project in Dr. Adam Melvin’s MicroLab titled “Biophysical analysis of the chemotactic response of different cell types exposed to various stimuli spanning the breast tumor.”
Coming into Clemson, Kathleen knew she wanted to be involved in research. She began searching for labs and came across Dr. Melvin’s lab and joined in the Spring of 2024.
“During the academic year I am a member of Melvin MicroLab, in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. My project focuses on the chemotaxis of breast cancer cells in response to bacterial presence.”
In the fall of her freshman year, Kathleen took Careers in Biochemistry and Genetics, which is where she learned about the Creative Inquiry Program. Kathleen’s Summer CI project focused on the development of a 3D printed device to study how bacteria alters the migration of breast cancer cells.
“Currently, there are few studies that have been able to identify if bacteria from the breast tumor microbiome alters the directional migration of cancer cells. Our work hopes to visualize cancer cell chemotaxis due to bacteria.”
Kathleen notes that the Summer CI Program has been a wonderful experience to continue her ongoing research and get to know more about the work being done by others within the Melvin lab.
“I loved getting to know what other people are working on, and having the opportunity to discuss issues that other teams may have struggled with and sharing different approaches to address complications. Working in the Melvin Lab has been one of the defining experiences of my time here at Clemson.”
SOFIA BUFANO
Senior international biochemistry student Sofia Bufano always knew she wanted to participate in a research lab during her academic career at Clemson and found the perfect fit in the Research and Education in Disease Diagnosis and Intervention Laboratory (REDDI Lab).
“I stumbled across Dr. Congyue Peng’s lab in the REDDI lab, and I liked her publications and her current research in the pathology field. I joined the lab spring semester of freshman year, and I’ve been an undergraduate researcher there ever since.”
This summer Sofia participated in a Creative Inquiry (CI) within the REDDI lab working on a project with the ultimate goal of differentiating human Dental Pulp Stem Cells into Motor Neuron Cells.
“So far, I have been taking care of my hDPSCs (passaging and changing media), and I performed RNA extraction, RNA to cDNA conversion, and qPCR to characterize the hDPSCs for specific primers we have selected, which will also be used to characterize Neuron Cells after differentiation.”
Sofia was nervous this summer to be in the lab and working on her own research project with new protocols and without any other lab partners. However, once she got used to it, Sofia felt beyond satisfied with her progress and research.
“The summer CI research was a life-changing experience on so many levels! Prior to this summer internship, I had in mind to pursue a Ph.D. in science after college, and this experience was the confirmation I needed that this path is the right choice for me.”
When Sofia was not in the lab, she used her free time to travel and spend time with friends and family, some of her closest friends staying in Clemson participating in CIs as well.
“We often got together after lab to chat about our experiments and watch TV. I also traveled quite a bit: I went horseback riding in the Dominican Republic, snorkeling in Curaçao, sightseeing in Aruba, and I spent some time in Hilton Head with friends and family.”
Sofia is Italian and officially became an American citizen in April and experienced her first American 4th of July this year!
CATLY NGUYEN
When Dr. Jim Morris was the guest speaker at a Biochemistry and Genetics Club meeting, senior biochemistry major Catly (Cat) Nguyen became interested in his research, leading to a position as an undergraduate researcher in the Morris Labs. This summer, Cat is participating in the Undergraduate Research + Creative Inquiry (CI) program, while continuing her research with Dr. Morris.
“Hearing Dr. Morris talk about his journey into research/molecular biology and his work was so insightful and interesting. It gave me the courage to email him and ask to join his lab as an undergraduate researcher.”
In the Morris Lab, Cat’s research focuses on identifying and localizing potential drug targets and understanding drug uptake in Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. Trypanosomes are so complex because their cellular mechanisms, like glucose metabolism, are not yet fully understood.
“Our goal here is expand our understanding of their cellular biology so that we can exploit it for drug targets.”
This summer, for her CI, Cat is specifically investigating how drugs and inhibitors are trafficked to glycosomes, which are specialized peroxisomes that house essential glycolytic enzymes.
“To do this, I’ve been working on purifying PTS-tagged (peroxisomal targeting sequence) eYFP proteins, which will help us characterize how these proteins are delivered to the glycosomes and potentially co-delivered with drugs.”
Another part of Cat’s research is working on another side cloning project where the goal is to find the origin of replication within a plasmid by dividing it into smaller fragments and amplifying them using specific designed primer pairs. Once one is discovered, they can clone EYFP into it, allowing N. fowleri to replicate the fluorescent protein independently and establish long-term expression of EYFP once it is transfected into the parasite.
“So far, I’ve had such an amazing experience in Dr. Morris’ lab during the summer. I’ve gotten to spend more time in lab, getting more work done, being able to see positive results, and most importantly expanding my understanding of molecular biology and biochemistry.”
Cat has been able to apply this experience to her lecture courses and has been able to interact with and learn from graduate students, whom she notes as great mentors. Cat knows this experience in the Morris lab will help her reach her future ambitions.
“From this experience, I hope to better prepare myself for a future in research. I am pursuing pharmacy school after undergrad and am planning on going into biochemical pharmaceutical research where I focus on drug discovery/delivery. So, working with Dr. Morris this summer has be extremely valuable to my future goals.”
Outside of her CI, Cat has been spending her summer planting, spending time with friends and families, cooking and baking, going to concerts, reading and traveling.
ALEXANDRA HARRINGTON
Currently working in the Creative Inquiry (CI) project Investigating the role of the TMLH (CNAG_05675) gene and the gBB (CNAG_00403) gene in the carnitine biosynthesis pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans, senior genetics and biochemistry major Alexandra Harrington strives to contribute and make a difference in the scientific community.
Alexandra is researching the carnitine biosynthesis pathway in the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC) with its director Dr. Kerry Smith and plans to continue her research throughout the Fall semester as she pursues a Departmental Honors.
“I was very interested in the EPIC here at Clemson because it combines my majors in biochemistry and genetics and my minor in microbiology.”
For her CI, Alexandra is investigating the role of the TMLH (CNAG_05675) gene and the gBB (CNAG_00403) gene in the carnitine biosynthesis pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungal pathogen responsible for diseases like meningitis and pneumonia. Alexandra’s project aims to completely characterize the carnitine biosynthesis pathway, specifically genes TMLH and gBB, as it pertains to acetate metabolism and amino acid biosynthesis in the virulence of fungal pathogen C. neoformans.
“I have spent these past several weeks especially focusing on the TMLH gene, in which I have grown my C. neoformans wild-type in media and isolated its DNA, isolated my target DNA (TMLH), used PCR to amplify the TMLH gene and I am currently working to clone my TMLH gene into a plasmid and further confirm that transformation occurred using PCR and sequencing. I am working towards having all elements necessary to perform complementation using a gene-editing method called Transient CRISPR-Cas9 Coupled with Electroporation (TRACE).”
Through her summer CI Alexandra hopes to strengthen her critical thinking and problem-solving skills and deepen understanding of what she is learning in her classroom lectures and labs, particularly the techniques, processes and pathways, and apply them to real-world experiments.
“Through this project, I want a greater understanding of fungal metabolism and virulence. I have been able to isolate DNA, conduct many PCR procedures, interpret gel electrophoresis results, and I have learned the importance of designing primers as well as cloning target DNA into plasmid DNA.”
She was especially excited to work with the gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 that is becoming increasingly effective and vital in the fields of biochemistry, genetics and biomedicine to discover gene therapies.
“My project has already taught me how to learn by asking meaningful questions and how important it is to step back and find another route to a solution. In addition, I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a team, both developing connections with and learning from lab mates.”
Alexandra finds excitement in knowing that one day she may help discover something truly important to healthcare that makes a difference in someone’s life and sees this program as an experience that will help her get closer to achieving her career and life goals.
“It is rewarding knowing that this project has the potential to better understand pathogen virulence and to use this pathway as a target for antifungal drug treatments in the future.”
During the academic year, Alexandra participates in Dr. Kimberly Métris’ lab, Beta Beta Beta Biological Sciences Fraternity, the women’s lacrosse team, Clemson Hope, Kappa Delta, Clemson’s Sigma Delta Pi Hispanic National Honor Society and the Spanish club, Hablemos. When not in the lab this summer, she spends her time studying for the MCAT, attending baseball games, both Clemson and the Phillies, enjoying lake days with friends, golfing, walking on the dikes and reading.
Second year Ph.D. student Caroline Palmentiero ’23 studied microbiology in her undergrad but couldn’t seem to get away from biochemistry, choosing it for her minor and becoming a lab technician for G&B professor Dr. James Morris.
“My undergraduate research was in the microbiology department, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted to pursue long term. I took molecular basis of disease with Dr. Morris. I became his laboratory technician and loved everything about the lab, his mentorship and the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), which is why I decided to continue research as a graduate student after I graduated in December of 2023.”
Caroline’s graduate research under Dr. James Morris focuses on the development of genetic engineering techniques and drug screening in the pathogenic free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri, which is almost always fatal, but it remains highly understudied because of the rarity of exposure.
“I love the research that we do because we are developing new techniques that can provide novel insights into the organism and searching for new treatments that could potentially save lives.”
Caroline is unsure regarding post-graduation plans, but I could see herself pursuing drug/vaccine development or working in a clinical setting of some sort. Regardless, she is grateful for the opportunities provided to her at Clemson.
“I love the department, especially being in EPIC, because everyone is always so willing to help each other. There are so many people to turn to for advice and everyone really loves what they do.”
Outside of the lab, Caroline describes herself as a homebody and family-centered, spending time relaxing at home with her dog and fiancé either reading, watching TV, cooking or planning her March 2026 wedding.
