Tag: clemson students

Fascinated by the vastness of the universe, as a child senior biochemistry major Adam Gatch was intrigued by how the physics of the very small could be used to explain the astronomically large.

“I’ve always been captivated by the study of life at the molecular level,” said Gatch. “It’s remarkable to learn how disease at the macroscopic level can be understood through the underlying physics and chemistry governing cells and molecules.”

Adam has been awarded the 2025 Churchill Scholarship, which allows students to undertake a one-year master’s program in STEM fields at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

With the scholarship, Adam plans to pursue a master of philosophy in chemistry and work with professor Tuomas Knowles at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Misfolding Diseases, a leading research center dedicated to understanding the abnormal behavior of proteins in the brain in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Adam’s research on campus is began when he approached Dr. Feng Ding from the Department of Physics and Astronomy about joining his biophysics research lab. Adam’s research has mainly focused on understanding the abnormal aggregation of disease-associated proteins and how interactions between different proteins contribute to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Adam has also researched Parkinson’s Disease when he spent the summer before his sophomore year at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), researching how neuroimaging could be used to predict how patients suffering from the disease might respond to a specific drug therapy, a project that was supported by an application Gatch wrote — and won — for a $10,000 National Institutes of Health Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Grant Supplement.

His work has earned him several other scholarships, honors and awards, including a 2024 Goldwater scholarship.

Aside from academics, Adam volunteers at the campus food pantry, serves as a member of the College of Science Student Advisory Board, acts as a tutor at the University’s Academic Success Center, and works as an EMT.

“It’s a great honor to win the Churchill Scholarship. I’m very excited to work with one of the most prominent researchers within my field in the world,” said Gatch. “The Knowles lab is a perfect fit for me, and there is no better environment for my continued growth as a young researcher.”

The Churchill Scholarship is seen as the most prestigious and competitive international science, mathematics and engineering award for post-undergraduate researchers. Adam was one of only 16 students nationwide to receive the award and his award makes Clemson the only university whose students have been awarded a Churchill Scholarship in each of the last three years.

Senior genetics major, Truman and National Scholar Elizabeth Caldwell was invited to give a Ted Talk at TEDxClemsonU’s Innovate to Elevate event on August 24, 2024.

TEDxClemsonU’s Innovate to Elevate event aimed to catalyze a culture of innovation, collaboration, and positive change within the university community, empowering individuals to elevate their ideas, aspirations, and impact on the world.

The title of Elizabeth’s talk was “Now You See Me: Recognizing Invisible and Dynamic Disabilities,” and featured topics of her own disability, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), disabilities as a whole and how society reacts to these disabilities.

“Most often my cane is the first thing people notice about me. And once strangers see me with a cane, they immediately begin making assumptions.”

Elizabeth’s talk resonates with both people with and without disabilities. She encourages those listening to rethink the way we view those with disabilities.

“I believe its time to innovate the way we think about disabilities so that we can elevate the entire disability community and make the world more accessible for all.”

When senior biochemistry major Ruxi Xia was shopping for colleges, she began to get worried that she wouldn’t find the place for her because she wasn’t connecting at any of the campuses she toured at. That all changed when she visited Clemson.

“Clemson felt like home as soon as I stepped on the campus.”

Ruxi is an international student from Wuhan, China that came to the US in high school and lived with a host family. After high school Ruxi was excited to learn that Clemson had a robust biochemistry program.

“I wanted a strong biochemistry program to set me up for success in cancer research as it has been my career choice since one of my family members passed from cancer.”

Now that Ruxi is here, she is grateful to have been exposed to many foundational science courses that she says will set her up for success.

“I enjoy my upper-level professors, who are really passionate about science and have made me a much stronger student.”

Ruxi is not only involved in her routine academics on campus; she is a part of many different extracurricular activities including the Clemson Light Imaging Facility (CLIF).

“I have worked on many independent immunofluorescence staining projects, learned to operate wide-field and confocal microscopes, and coordinated an imaging contest that receives entries from all over the world for that past three years.”

Ruxi also works in a bioengineering lab characterizing peptides to deliver siRNA for RNA interference applications in ovarian cancer, as well as using a 3D spheroid model to better study the tumor and has presented her research at five national conferences.

As a co-director for Clemson Paw Pantry since Spring 2023, Ruxi has enjoyed leading the executive team and spreading awareness for the initiative, tripling both the usage of the pantry and the number of volunteers. Ruxi is also a student tutor at the Academic Success Center and mentor for the Clemson College of Science Mentoring and Inclusion Collaborative (COSMIC).

In addition, Ruxi serves as an active member in student government, as the volunteer/community service coordinator for the Clemson Rotaract Club and as the president of the Clemson Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA).

“I have really enjoyed getting to help out the community whether that is helping at the Clemson Community Care, local farms, and other shelters in the community.”

Ruxi went to high school in Virginia and enjoys baking, cooking and spending time with her friends trying new restaurants and coffee shops. After graduation, Ruxi plans to either pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering or pharmaceutical sciences.

When choosing a college, STEM opportunities were important for December genetics graduate Olivia Eierman ’24. Originally from Long Island, NY, Olivia came a long way to make Clemson her home.

“I chose Clemson because of its many opportunities in STEM related fields as well as hometown feel.”

With cluster engineering and biological sciences as her minors, Olivia’s favorite class while she was a student was Engineering Analysis of Physiological Processes (BIOE 3100) with Professor Dr. Heather Dunn. Olivia’s interest in engineering shined through her years at Clemson.

“Throughout Clemson I was involved in Engineers for developing communities where I was the project manager of the Cange Hospital Optimization team.”

In addition, Olivia served as the treasurer of Chaarg a health and wellness organization for girls at Clemson and was a member in Delta Zeta sorority. Chaarg, which stands for Changing Health, Attitudes + Actions to Recreate Girls, provides a holistically healthy + safe community for girls. Olivia also spent a summer studying abroad in Europe.

“My favorite Clemson memory was studying abroad in the summer of 2023 on a faculty directed trip with the bioengineering department watching the Eiffel tower twinkle on the last night of our trip!”

After graduation Olivia plans to go back to Long Island and work in a neuropathology lab and hopes to pursue a master’s or apply for PA school in the future. In her free time, Olivia enjoys taking her puppy on walks at the dykes, enjoying football games with friends and cooking.

Congrats, Olivia!

On Monday, December 16th, the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry held its semi-annual Research in Progress (RIP) Symposium, where graduate students give a 20-minute presentation on their research. This year’s presenters included Sabrina Pizzaro, Xiaotong Chen, Amara Onoh and Chia-Lun (Allen) Wu.

Titles of Presentations

Sabrina Pizzaro: Putative Sodium/Proton Exchangers in Trypanosoma brucei

Xiaotong Chen: How miR164 fine tuning plant growth to balance abiotic stress response and potential off target activity in DNA recombinase

Amara Onoh: Biochemical Characterization of MEILB2/HSF2BP as a Key Factor in Meiotic Homologous Recombination

Chia-Lun (Allen) Wu: Abnormal Trafficking and Processing of Multiple Matrix Metalloproteinases Drives Cartilage Defects in PMM2-CDG

For the last few years, Bryson Woodard BS ’23, MS ’24 has been a staple around the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry and the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), first working as a lab manager for the Morris lab as a biological sciences undergraduate and then as a graduate student.

Bryson graduates on Thursday with a master’s in biochemistry and molecular biology. With Dr. Meredith Morris as his PI, Bryson’s research focused on assessing glycosomal heterogeneity in the parasitic kinetoplastid Trypanosoma brucei.

“We are interested in the diversity of glycosomes, which are essential metabolic organelles within the Trypanosomes; previous research findings suggest that not all glycosomes are the same.”

To assess this diversity, Bryson and his lab mates use an endogenous tagging technique to attach fluorescent protein tags to essential glycosomal membrane proteins. These tagged membrane proteins allow analyzation of glycosomal diversity using fluorescence expansion microscopy and advanced forms of flow cytometry.

In his free time, Bryson enjoys visiting local coffee shops, hiking, reading, and spending time with friends. His favorite moment while at Clemson was in his undergrad years when it snowed.

“A couple of friends and I went sledding at the dikes and ended up meeting Dabo, such a cool experience!”

After graduation, Bryson plans to work as a phlebotomist while he applies to medical school.

“I would like to thank my lab and everyone in EPIC/B&G for all of their support throughout this process, awesome people have truly made all the difference!”

Dr. Hong Luo has received a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the unintended consequences of three site-specific DNA recombination systems commonly used to genetically engineer target crops.

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

Drs. Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt have been awarded a $170,000 grant from the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation. The grant will be used to utilize Drosophila models of Sanfilippo A and B (also called mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IIIA and IIIB) to screen FDA-approved drugs that may ameliorate the symptoms and disease progression of these devastating pediatric diseases, also called “Childhood Alzheimers.”

Director of the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovations Center (EPIC) and professor of Genetics and Biochemistry Dr. Kerry Smith has taken a role with the Clemson University School of Health Research (CUSHR) as campus research director for the Prisma Health Education and Research Institute (PHERI).

Dr. Robert Anholt served on NIGMS COBRE Phase 1 reviews – Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group 2024/10 ZGM1 RCB-T (C1).

Ph.D. student in Dr. Jim Morris’ lab Sabrina Pizarro has been awarded an EPIC Graduate Translational Research Assistantship.

Dr. Alex Feltus was interviewed by WYFF4 about artificial intelligence and using it in the classroom and beyond.

Authority Magazine recently highlighted Professor Shahid Mukhtar’s work and career journey in science in the article, “AgTech: Shahid Mukhtar of Clemson University on The New Technologies That Are Revolutionizing Agriculture.”

At the American Society of Microbiology Joint Branch Meeting of South Carolina, biochemistry and molecular biology master’s student Bryson Woodard received an Honorable Mention for his poster presentation titled, “Construction and Characterization of Transgenic Cell Lines for the Analysis of Glycosome Heterogeneity in Trypanosoma brucei“.

At the Clemson vs Virgina game on October 19th, Dr. Trudy Mackay was featured as professor of game.

Dr. Robert Anholt was invited to deliver a virtual scientific presentation skills workshop for the University of Chile in Santiago. In addition, he has been appointed a guest professor, in the Master in Genetics Program and Program of Human Genetics at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences within the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Chile.

Elizabeth Caldwell, senior genetics major, was selected as a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the most prestigious and selective major fellowships available to American college students.

At the American Society of Microbiology Joint Branch Meeting of South Carolina, biochemistry undergraduate Hayeon Cho received an Honorable Mention for her poster presentation titled, “Determination of the role of one cathepsin C-like protease, TgCPC2, in Toxoplasma gondii infection.”

Dr. Alex Feltus and Ph.D. candidate Xusheng Ai released open-source generative AI software called GEMDiff that can “deep fake” gene expression in diseased tissue to look like gene expression in normal tissue.

Dr. Robert Anholt is a member of the Intellectual & Real Property Committee of the Greenwood Genetic Center and serves on the planning committee for the 2025 NIDA Animal Genetics Consortium meeting.

Clemson News featured an article spotlighting Drs. Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt’s research of how fruit flies could help find treatment for “childhood Alzheimer’s.”

If you’re in the sciences, odds are you’ve crossed paths with Kate Doran. Maybe in your genetics or biochemistry or anthropology or engineering or chemistry or biology courses. Kate seems to be a jack of all trades in the College of Science.

Originally from Stephentown, New York, Kate is a junior double majoring in genetics and biochemistry with minors in social sciences, biological sciences, engineering and chemistry. Kate chose Clemson because when she toured “it felt like home” with it being a big school but with a small school environment.

Research being a significant part of Kate’s academic career, she has been involved in the Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research Program, Clemson University’s unique combination of undergraduate research, experiential learning and cross-disciplinary interactions.

“The opportunities available were unmatched, specifically the creative inquiry program which allows undergraduate students to do research.”

The title of Kate’s Creative Inquiry project is “Development of a 3D-Printed Millifluidic Device to Study How Bacteria Alters the 3D Migration of Breast Cancer Cells.” The goal of this project was to look at the chemotactic response due to soluble factors released by bacteria in the breast tumor microenvironment and investigate this through the development of a 3D printed millifluidic device to analyze cancer cell chemotaxis.

In addition to the Creative Inquiry Program, Kate participates in Dr. Adam Melvin’s chemical engineering lab, focusing on the 3-Dimensional migration of breast cancer cells within a 3D printed device.

“Prior to Clemson, I did not anticipate working or participating in an engineering environment, however the opportunities presented to undergraduates are unmatched across all fields.”

The research she has participated in at Clemson led her to obtain a position as a summer intern at the National Institutes of Health last summer. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.

Kate notes some of her academic success to the people she is surrounded by here at Clemson, whether that be academic advisors, professors or other students.

“As I move forward in my degree, each semester I meet more people within the department, and the community that biochemistry and genetics majors have is truly special.”

After graduation, Kate plans to pursue an M.D. or a Ph.D.

“Medical school has been a long-term goal of mine, and following the introduction to biochemistry and research, it was apparent the original plan could be expanded in order to better help others in the long run.”

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.”