Tag: conference

Junior biochemistry student Kate Doran recently attended the 2025 Annual American Chemical Society (ASC) meeting in San Diego, CA to present a poster of her research work.

The Annual ASC meeting is a function where individuals can get together and share their passion for chemistry, connect with one of the world’s largest scientific societies and advance scientific career opportunities.

“It was an absolute pleasure presenting at this year’s American Chemical Society meeting. The opportunity to travel to San Diego and present at such a large conference was an incredible addition to my Clemson experience.”

Kate worked with Riley Collins, a senior biomedical engineering student on her poster presentation. The title of the presentation was “Development of a 3D-Printed Device to Study How Bacteria Alters the 3D Migration of Breast Cancer Cells.”

“The goal of this work is to analyze cancer cell chemotaxis due to the presence of bacteria through the development of a 3D printed millifluidic device. The millifluidic device was designed in SOLIDWORKS and printed using PLA filament on an Ender3 Series 3D printer.”

The research is ongoing and is focused on hydrogels like collagen-I, to support the 3D migration.

“A huge thank you to Dr. Adam Melvin for his support throughout the preparation for this meeting and Clemson Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research Program for sponsoring our journey!”

Senior biochemistry major Mary Grace Flowers has been selected to attend the 19th annual ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference at the University of Pittsburgh on March 28-30th. Only 5 students from each university are chosen to attend.

The ACC Meeting of the Minds is an annual research conference celebrating undergraduate research and creative inquiry at the 18 Atlantic Coast Conference member schools, including Clemson University and seeks to highlight undergraduate excellence in research and creative scholarship across many fields.

Mary Grace will be presenting a poster titled “Examining the role of sex in bone remodeling using differential feeding stresses.” Her research investigates bone remodeling in the facial skeleton using a cichlid fish model because these fish have immense range of facial diversity and have shown a significant capability for craniofacial bone remodeling.

The University of Pittsburgh says, “The weekend of events is designed to provide students with the opportunity to share their work, connect with peers from other institutions, to learn from and with each other, and of course to have some fun!”

Everyone wish Mary Grace luck at the Meeting of the Minds later this month!

At the American Society of Microbiology Joint Branch Meeting of South Caroina (SC ASM) on November 9th, 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“.

Bryson works in Dr. Meredith Morris’ lab in the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC). The lab focuses on Trypanosoma brucei (the causative agent of African Sleeping Sickness) as a model organism and seeks to explore and close knowledge gaps within the parasite’s cellular biology.

“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.

“To date, we have successfully attached our first fluorescent tag to our selected membrane proteins, subsequent attachment of additional tags and analysis is to follow.”

Attending the SC ASM fall meeting was an excellent experience for Bryson, where he was able to learn more about microbiological research happening in our state, network with other scientists and faculty and further prepare for his career as a physician.

“I am honored to have received an honorable mention for my poster presentation. I want to thank the conference organizers, my advisor, Dr. Meredith Morris and my lab mates for supporting me in these endeavors.”

In late October three junior biochemistry students represented the department at the annual Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting (BMES) in Baltimore, MD: James Marturano, Kathleen Doran and Addison Schaff (pictured left to right).

Established in 1968, BMES strives to be the professional home for biomedical engineers to assist you in navigating your career path and striving to make the work of biomedical engineering and those in allied fields, more visible. Their mission is to promote a collaborative and inclusive community to advance human health through education, discovery and translation, which drives their research and educational initiatives, including webinars, chapter programs and meetings.

Each student presented a poster of their research findings with their partner.

James Marturano, biochemistry
“Single measurement of DUB activity in multiple myeloma to identity subpopulations based on enzyme activity”

Katleen Doran, biochemistry
“Development of a 3D-Printed Device to Study How Bacteria Alters the 3D Migration of Breast Cancer Cells”

Addison Schaaf, biochemistry
“Co-culture between ER + breast cancer and bacteria using a 3-D printed platform to recreate the tumor microbiome”

Dr. Stephen Dolan and Ph.D. student Jessica Aycock and undergraduate Mallory Murphy spent three days at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC) in Boston, MA presenting their research and divulging in CF research from other academics and clinicians.

NACFC is amazing learning experience and opportunity to collaborate with other CF researchers. Both Jessica and Mallory received grants to attend this conference – Jessica was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Mallory was funded by a Seifert Scholarship.

Mallory and Jessica presented their research at the poster forum alongside other CF researchers and clinicians, while Dr. Dolan served as the co-chair and panelist of the “Fungal Infections in CF” session.

The title of Jessica’s research poster was “Pseudomonas aeruginosa detects fungal toxins using a novel regulatory cascade.”

The title of Mallory’s research poster was “Exploring the diversity and function of the RTA1-like protein family in Aspergillus fumigatus.”