Clemson University senior double majoring in biochemistry and psychology Yashvi Patel spent the past summer at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida completing a clinical research internship focused on stroke treatment.
Thrombolytics, which are administered when someone suffers a stroke, are clot-busting drugs used to restore blood flow to the brain. Though we know to provide thrombolytics as treatment for a stroke, many questions still remain about the drugs.
At the Mayo Clinic, under the guidance of Dr. William Freema, Yashvi reviewed patient data in neurocritical care to analyze patterns related to stroke treatment. Her main project for the summer focused on how a particular thrombolytic affects patients who have suffered from a stroke, analyzing how soon patients can begin physical movement such as sitting on the edge of the bed, standing or walking after having a stroke and receiving the drug.
In addition to her main project, Yashvi was able to experience other features the Mayo Clinic had to offer, shadowing other departments such as neuropsychological testing, a double-liver heart transplant, radiation oncology, cutting-edge MRI and radiation therapy machines, and ion therapy
“It’s such a different environment and the caliber of research is incredible,” she said.
In 2015, when Aliyah Simmons switched her major to biochemistry as a freshman, she had no idea that she had just begun a domino effect in her family.
Aliyah ’19, Chasity ’22 and Lauren Simmon’s ’25 parents raised them to always support one another. Whether in school or through life challenges, each sister knew they could rely on each other.
“As I’ve gotten older, our bond has only grown stronger, and I’m deeply grateful for the relationship we share,” Lauren says. “I truly love and appreciate my sisters, and I consider it a blessing to have them in my life.”
Lauren Simmons
Each sister has gone through and graduated from the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. Aliyah and Chasity studied biochemistry and Lauren studied genetics.
“I always wanted to major in biochemistry since eighth grade due to my love for both biology and chemistry,” says Chasity.
However, it was Aliyah who was first to attend Clemson, coming in as a bioengineering major but soon found out engineering didn’t align with her future goals. She quickly switched to biochemistry and the others followed as they entered as freshman.
“When they [her sisters] shared their academic interests with me, I encouraged them to explore the G&B department because I knew it would be a great fit,” says Aliyah. “Throughout their time in school, I was always available to answer questions, help with course planning and offer guidance and support.”
Aliyah Simmons
For Lauren, choosing Clemson and our department was mainly family influence, but partly due to the exclusivity of our genetics program.
“When I learned that Clemson was one of the few universities offering genetics as a dedicated major, it immediately stood out to me,” says Lauren. “The combination of my family’s connection, my own visits and the opportunity to study genetics made Clemson the clear choice for me.”
Aside from their shared interest in the sciences of genetics and biochemistry, all three sisters also studied Spanish and were a part of the study abroad program with Aliyah and Chasity studying in Córdoba, Argentina and Lauren traveling to Santiago De Compostela, Spain.
“While there I did a surgical internship at the local hospital and many other activities. It was one of the best experiences of my life,” says Lauren, while Aliyah says, “I studied abroad in Córdoba, Argentina in Spring 2018, and it was an incredible experience. I’m still in touch with my host family to this day.”
Additionally, the Simmons sisters were noticeably active on campus during their undergrads, particularly in the Clemson University Student Government, which all three had some involvement. In addition to Student Government Aliyah, Casity and Lauren were involved in other extracurricular activities.
“I participated in the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students, Undergraduate Pediatric Society, Association of Minority Psychology Students, was a Clemson Tour Guide and played intermural soccer and basketball,” says Chasity.
Chasity Simmons
After graduating, Aliyah, now a married mother of two boys, attended medical school at MUSC and is now at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson in her anesthesia residency. For Chasity, she worked as a clinical assistant and translator at a pediatric clinic and is currently in medical school scheduled to graduate in 2028. Lauren, who just graduated a few months ago is pursuing medical school like her sisters.
All three sisters contribute some of their medical school successes to the faculty, peers and curriculum of the G&B department.
“Altogether, that sense of connection—with both peers and professors—has shaped my future by strengthening my study habits, collaboration skills and confidence, which I know will carry me forward in my medical journey,” says Lauren, while Aliyah says, “G&B taught me the importance of teamwork—something that’s essential in medicine, where collaboration across healthcare disciplines is critical.”
Associate professor Rajan Sekhon along with a team of researchers at Clemson University and partner organizations have received a $2.4 million, four-year grant to map genes that control leaf senescence in corn. Funded by the National Science Foundation through both the Plant Genome Research Program and the Cross-Directorate Activities program, this project aims to sustain photosynthesis longer, improve yield stability and support smarter on-farm nitrogen use.
For International Microorganism Day Clemson News highlighted G&B’s Manuel Fierro and his research with the cell biology of the microorganism that causes malaria.
Three G&B lecturers were recently promoted to senior lecturer including Heidi Anderson, Michael Harris and Todd Lyda.
Graduate students Sky Lu and Roger Zhang gave poster presentations on their dissertation research at the North Carolina Chestnut Festival, where Sky won first prize for her presentation.
Recently Haiying Liang and her lab assisted at the Chestnut Return Farm in Seneca, SC and the North Carolina Chestnut Festival in Asheville, NC
Tara Doucet-O’Hare was invited to give a seminar to the Department of Biology at UNC Asheville. The title was “Diving into the dark genome: endogenous retroviruses in human health and disease.”
Pursuing a Ph.D. wasn’t always the plan for biochemistry alum Sydney Clark ’25, who is currently a first year Ph.D. student in the Healthcare Genetics and Genomics Laboratory under the School of Nursing at Clemson University.
“Although I had strong grades, I didn’t imagine I would be accepted into a PhD program right out of undergrad. I was told I needed to have a very clear trajectory for why I wanted to pursue graduate school and where I wanted to end up after I received a graduate degree. While I still do not have a perfectly defined path for my future, I know this was the best next step I could have taken.”
Originally from Charleston, SC, Sydney came to Clemson for undergraduate studies, graduating in May 2025 with a degree in biochemistry with minors in microbiology and biological sciences. Sydney first joined the Healthcare Genetics and Genomics Lab during her junior year and later applied to continue the Ph.D. research with the help of her mentor, Dr. Aubrey Mattingly.
“I am now working as a Graduate TA/RA for the HCG Lab, where I help train undergrad students in various aspects of cancer research.”
Sydney’s dissertation work focuses on the use of natural pharmaceutical extracts to treat breast cancer in a zebrafish model organism. Specifically, she studies how these herbal extracts influence the regulation of key anti-cancer genes involved in apoptosis, proliferation, migration, and other processes.
“This program has already allowed me to gain hands-on experience with a wide range of laboratory techniques, including culturing, fluorescent tagging, metabolomics, embryo microinjections and fluorescent microscopy, among others. More importantly, it has given me the freedom to explore, experiment and teach others the “why” behind what we do in research.”
When graduating Ph.D. student Sabrina Pizzaro was an undergraduate biology major at North Greenville University, she participated in the Biology National Science Foundation – Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) here at Clemson working with G&B’s Dr. Hong Luo. Though Luo’s specialty – plants – might not have sparked Sabrina’s interest, Clemson, the department and the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovations Center (EPIC) did!
“It was a great experience! I loved the environment of the campus and knew I wanted to come back. I knew I was interested in some of the EPIC labs, so I got to meet with a handful of professors I was interested in working with, including Dr. Jim Morris. There was research that interested me, and I would be within an hour of both mine and my husband’s families; it seemed like a perfect fit!”
Sabrina arrived on campus in Fall 2019 and began courses, research and TA work.
“I taught in the teaching labs for three years! Getting to interact with our undergraduate students was truly an honor; we have amazing students in our program.”
Sabrina’s Ph.D. research in EPIC focuses on Trypanosome brucei, the parasite that causes African Sleeping Sickness. In these parasites, glycolysis occurs within specialized peroxisomes, called glycosomes, rather than in the cytosol, and the bloodstream form of the parasite is completely reliant on glycolysis for ATP production.
“Our lab focuses on how to target the glycolytic pathway. I’ve worked on two main projects; one where I have studied using peroxisomal targeting sequences to traffic drugs into the glycosome where they can inhibit glycolytic enzymes and the other where I studied two putative proton transporters involved in regulating the pH of the glycosome.”
Something other than coursework and research that has been a prevalent part of Sabrina’s time at Clemson is the Genetics and Biochemistry Graduate Student Association (GBGSA).
“For the past few years, I’ve served on the leadership team for the GBGSA. The main goal of GBGSA is to foster community within our graduate student body, and that goal really resonates with me. I think that community is incredibly important in every aspect of life, and grad school is far from an exception to that rule.”
When not on campus, Sabrina loves to bake sourdough, watch Clemson Women’s gymnastics, rock climb, lead worship at church, grow carnivorous plants, crochet amigurumi and design nail art.
On October 22nd, Sabrina presented her Ph.D. defense titled Exploring Glycosomes as Therapeutic Targets for Trypanosome brucei and will graduate this December.
If you haven’t already, you’ll probably spot freshman biochemistry student Jackson Miller on the paint line at Clemson games, whether it’s on the jumbotron or even on ESPN. Jackson is passionate about all things Clemson, Disney, sports, family and his future dentistry career.
“Originally from the small town of Lake Wylie, SC located just outside of Charlotte, NC, I come from a small family of four that brings me constant joy and laughter. We are probably the biggest Disney fans on the face of Earth. This Christmas I will be making my 24th trip and I couldn’t be more excited since I will be there on Christmas day for the first time.”
Jackson attended a small private Christian school called Gaston Christian School with only 1,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This small, tight-knight community is what led him to Clemson.
“That is what played a huge role in my college search. I wanted to find a college that gave me that same feeling as my school back home, family. Clemson was just that for me. As soon as I walked on campus, I could feel the love and family.”
Since being on campus for a few months, he has found everyone to be friendly and loves the people and connections made so far from in the Shoeboxes to Central Spirit, which is the club that Jackson has gotten most involved in.
“Central Spirit is such a great and tight community where we are constantly having fun. That being from yelling at games in hopes of helping our Tigers to victory or goofing off while at flag practice. The community has welcomed me so quickly and it has been such a blessing to have these people in my life.”
As an aspiring orthodontist, the biochemistry department seemed like a perfect fit for Jackson, providing the perfect blend of chemistry and biology. It is also a huge plus that our program is an excellent preparer for the DAT.
“I have met so many dentists and orthodontists telling me how it is a great program here at Clemson and a great way to be prepared for a dental school wherever I end up. The hope is to be able to help other kids like my sister feel more confident with their smiles and less scared of the people behind the mask at the dentist office.”
Now almost halfway through his first semester, Jackson is enjoying college life, getting involved in organizations and immersing himself in his studies.
“It is a true blessing to be at the school I wanted to be at more than anywhere else.”
Today, September 17th, is International Microorganism Day, raising awareness of the importance of microorganisms within our daily lives. Though tiny and can’t be seen with the naked eye, most are harmless and some are even beneficial, however, others can make us sick.
To commemorate the day, Clemson News highlighted three College of Science faculty members whose research involves microorganisms, including genetics and biochemistry’s Dr. Manuel Fierro and his research with the cell biology of the microorganism that causes malaria.
Malaria is caused by a single-cell eukaryotic parasite that invades other cells. Fierro investigates the different biological pathways necessary for the parasite’s survival. Malaria has developed resistance to every anti-malarial drug.
“That’s why my type of research is important to continue increasing knowledge about malaria and which biological pathways or proteins are critical for its survival. That can then inform the rest of the community, and it could result in another much needed anti-malarial,” Fierro says.
