Tag: departmental honors thesis

Wanting to escape the cold of her hometown of Huntley, Illinois, junior biochemistry student Adrianna Crespo knew once she graduated from high school, she had her sights set on the south – and set on Clemson, committing to the university the day she was accepted.

“I often get asked why I chose Clemson, and I never have a really good answer, as a part of me just always knew that this is where I belonged. From my research, and before I had even toured, I decided that Clemson would be the school for me. The sense of community and academic rigor ultimately drew me into Clemson.”

Also drew to our biochemistry program, and  Adrianna was not disappointed. Our G&B department has provided some amazing and supportive friends and professors.

“My best friend Olivia Palmieri and I met in our Biol 1011 lab our freshman year. I am extremely grateful for our friendship.”

Adrianna’s professors have supported her both inside and outside the classroom, challenging her academically while also investing time in mentoring her growth as a student and an emerging scientist.

“My professors have given me invaluable professional development advice and opportunities that have helped me tremendously, from encouraging me to pursue research to helping me think about my future career in science. Their guidance, encouragement, and willingness to invest in their students have made a lasting impact on my college experience.”

Adrianna participates in a couple of different academic-based extracurricular activities on campus, including serving as an Academic Success Center Tutor for General and Organic Chemistry and also acting as a Tutor Mentor where she has the opportunity to train the other tutors at the Academic Success Center. In addition, Adrianna contributes as the ROAR Leader, where she coordinates and plans the ROAR review sessions for Chemistry I and II that occur before the exams.

“Tutoring has been a rewarding experience because it allows me to help other students work through challenging concepts and build confidence in subjects that can often feel overwhelming. I am given the chance to mentor students and help foster independence for their future college endeavors.”

Another academic campus involvement that Adrianna is involved in is her research in inorganic chemistry in Dr. Tran Dominy’s Lab, where she works closely with Dr. Xudong Huai in their work with polycrystalline structures by solid state and flux reactions. Adrianna’s research is part of a departmental honors.

“For the departmental honors distinction in chemistry, I will write a thesis and defend it in front of a board. Dr. Huai and I are currently in the works of writing an entirely different paper for publication at the end of this year!”

Adrianna has also served as the Scholarships Chair for the Alpha Lambda Gamma Honors Society, is a part of the panhellenic sorority Alpha Phi, a member of Order of the Omega, a COSMIC mentor and Student Science Ambassador.

“However, one of my most meaningful leadership roles has been my involvement as Campus Outreach Coordinator for American Medical Women’s Association. I have watched the club grow and become an amazing experience for so many students.”

Illinois does not have mountains, so in her free time, Adrianna loves hiking the trails in North and South Carolina with her rescue dog, Bronco. Bronco came into Adrianna’s life shortly before Hurricane Helene, as the Oconee Humane Society (OHS) was searching for fosters before the storm.

“He is my best friend, and it has been one of my favorite college experiences to be his mom and he really is my entire world. I now volunteer at OHS whenever I can!”

Particularly interested in drug research and development, Adrianna hopes one day to contribute to the discovery and production of new medications that can improve patient outcomes. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in either medicinal chemistry or pharmacology.

“In the long term, I would also like to work in academia, where I can continue conducting research while teaching at the university level. Being able to mentor students and share my passion for chemistry and drug discovery would allow me to contribute to both scientific advancement and the education of future scientists.” Just like her professors did for her.

P.S. The last question we ask everyone in these interviews is “Anything else you want to add?” Most of the time that question is left blank. Adrianna’s wasn’t.

“[Speaking on her parents] I just want to thank them for supporting me from so far away and that I truly owe my experience to them and their undying support. Their belief in me has played a huge role in where I am today.”

Fun Fact: Junior biochemistry student Olivia (Liv) Palmieri’s high school in Galloway, New Jersey sat right on the beach. Even so, knowing that medicine was the end goal, she was drawn down south to Clemson University for her undergraduate experience. Clemson was an easy choice for Liv because of our strong sense of community, robust biochemistry program and the wide-ranging number of opportunities for both academic and personal growth.

“I chose biochemistry as my major because it combines my passion for science with my interest in medicine, allowing me to build a strong foundation for a future in healthcare. Being in the Genetics and Biochemistry Department has been a supportive community I am blessed to be a part of. The department allows students to gain hands-on learning opportunities and explore future career paths.”

Having psychology and cluster life science minors, Liv has loved learning campus and getting involved in all the extracurriculars and research opportunities that she can throughout her time at Clemson thus far. One of these is a research opportunity participating in a Creative Inquiry with Dr. Robin Kowalski in the Department of Psychology.   

“Since my sophomore year, I have worked with Dr. Kowalski as a member of her Social Psychology Creative Inquiry team, gaining insight into research design and analysis. Our projects focus on perceptions and their impact on behavior. We have presented our work at multiple forums over the past two years, and one of our papers was recently published!”

Liv has even recently begun a Departmental Honors with Dr. Kowalski, which means that she will complete a thesis of a major research project. Departmental Honors provides Honors students a unique opportunity to do advanced, in-depth study and research within an academic discipline.

Additionally, Liv is a member of the Honors College, where she serves as both a Peer Mentor and an Honors Ambassador. Within the College of Science, she also serves on the Student Advisory Board and as a COSMIC mentor.

“Both roles that allow me to support students and foster growth.”

Liv also acts as the Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa, Vice President of Membership of Order of Omega and serves as the Event Coordinator for the American Medical Women’s Association.

“I am also an active member of the Kappa Delta sorority and PhiDE, the pre-medical fraternity on campus. In my free time, I enjoy staying active and volunteering locally!”

While Liv stays deeply involved on campus, embracing the opportunities she hoped for when she first arrived, she still reflects on her future goals and the ambitions that brought her here in the first place.

“After I graduate, I plan to attend medical school and pursue a career in healthcare. I am interested in both neurology and surgery!”

Sydney Huiet B.S. ’19, M.S. ’22 remembers being as young as an elementary schooler, visiting friends’ houses and running home to tell her parents that her friend got their nose or eye color from their mom or dad, or what similarities they shared with their siblings.

“I actually knew from a very young age that I was interested in genetics. Even though I didn’t understand what genetics was at that point, I was naturally drawn to it. So, deciding to attend Clemson and study genetics was basically a no-brainer for me!”

Sydney grew up in Summerville, SC and was a genetics major and an animal and veterinary sciences minor, graduating in 2019 with her bachelor’s degree. Starting her sophomore year, Sydney began working in Dr. Leigh Anne Clark‘s Canine Genetics Lab, whose research focuses on identifying and characterizing the genetic underpinnings of complex diseases in dogs.

“Working in Dr. Clark’s lab allowed me to grow my passion for genetics and understand some of the health, emotional, and financial implications of having genetic testing available.”

Sydney completed her undergraduate departmental honors thesis in Dr. Clark’s lab and enjoyed the work so much that she decided to continue her research and stay for graduate school. Sydney worked on a variety of projects, but her undergraduate and master’s theses were both on a dental anomaly in Shetland sheepdogs called lance canine, discovering this condition was associated with having a decreased body size and discovered two linked variants that were causing this size reduction and increased risk for lance canine.

“This work resulted in a cover feature publication in PNAS and the creation of a genetic test for lance canine! This work was extremely rewarding and sparked my desire to go into the field of genetic testing.”

Even though Sydney was confident that working in the genetic testing industry was where she wanted her career to go, she decided to try something a bit different after graduating with her masters in genetics in 2022.

“I figured if I didn’t try something new now, then when would I? So I actually decided to try out working in forensic science at first. I worked at the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory in Hendersonville, NC for nearly two years as a scientist in the forensic biology unit.”

This role involved generating DNA profiles from crime scene evidence, performing statistical analysis to compare any unknown profiles to known standards in the case and testifying to these findings in court when necessary.

“It was rewarding work, but after a few years I knew my passion still lied with genetic testing.”

Sydney’s next move was to her current position at GeneDx, an industry leader in exome and genome testing. GeneDx is a genetic testing company that was founded in 2000 by two scientists from the National Institutes of Health, Sherri Bale and John Compton. GeneDx’s mission is to deliver health insights that inform diagnosis, direct treatment, and improve drug discovery.

Sydney’s is an associate genomic analyst on the Primary Analysis team at GenDx, where she designs PCR primers and send amps to the lab for anything needing confirmation, analyzes the resulting sequencing data and makes calls on whether the variants are real and what the zygosity of each family member is.

“Having accurate and timely results can make a monumental difference in developing a treatment plan for a patient and can save their family much emotional and financial stress. I find this work extremely rewarding, especially as GeneDx is continuing to offer tests with faster and faster turn-around-times for these patients.”

Sydney lives just outside of Charlotte, NC with her high school sweetheart-husband, Evan and works fully remote for GenDx. She is excited about the growing opportunities this field offers.

“There is a lot of growth in this field and at companies like GeneDx, so there are endless opportunities for career advancement, which is exciting! Right now I’m just enjoying newly-ish married life with my husband, Evan, and our three dogs Scout, Obi, and Pippin.”