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.”
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.
A Clemson native, May ’25 alum Griffin Thomas was a familiar face in the Life Sciences Building (LSB) during his undergrad, something that he looks back fondly on.
“Every day I looked forward to going to the LSB, knowing I would get the chance to talk to a past professor, a friend studying in the atrium, a member of the Genetics and Biochemistry staff or a member of the support staff.”
Griffin was a biochemistry major with minors in genetics and social sciences and was named an Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovations Center (EPIC) Seifert Scholar, served as the president of the Clemson Rotaract Club, a volunteer with the Cottingham Hospice House and a clinical research assistant in the School of Nursing.
Arguably, his most important work while at Clemson was his research in Dr. James Morris’ lab within EPIC where he studied the metabolism of T. brucei and Nagleria Fowleri in order to elucidate potential therapeutic targets.
After graduation, Griffin will be conducting research with the Department of Neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC for a year prior to attending medical school.
“I hope this opportunity will prepare me to provide more informed and comprehensive care to my future patients and prepare me for a career in neurosurgery.”
Assistant professor Stephen Dolan has been awarded a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant to acquire the university’s first hyperspectral snapshot imaging (HSI) system, a transformative technology poised to revolutionize pathogen research. This system will provide unparalleled spectral and spatial imaging capabilities, allowing researchers to enhance phenotypic profiling of eukaryotic pathogens that impact human health.
The title of the grant is “CU-MRI: Next-Generation Hyperspectral Snapshot Imaging for Enhanced Phenotypic Profiling of Eukaryotic Pathogens Impacting Human Health.”
The grant supports the acquisition of Ximea snapshot imagers, which leverage cutting-edge CCD technology to capture high-resolution spectral data across 57 bands in the visible spectrum. Unlike traditional hyperspectral imaging approaches that require slow, labor-intensive scanning, this new system operates in snapshot mode, capturing full spectral datasets at speeds of up to 300 frames per second. These capabilities will enable Clemson scientists to study dynamic biological processes in real time, advancing research in pathogen detection, host-pathogen interactions, and microbial physiology.
Dr. Cheryl Ingram-Smith is an associate professor of genetics and biochemistry and serves as the department’s graduate program director. She teaches courses in biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology and her primary research interests include metabolism of eukaryotic pathogens during infection in a human host and enzymology of metabolic enzymes.
Dr. Ingram-Smith graduated with her B.S. in biology from MIT and her Ph.D. in molecular biology from University of Pennsylvania. She came to Clemson in 2001, serving as a lecturer, senior lecturer and undergraduate academic advisor before moving to a tenure track position in 2011.
As part of Clemson University’s Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), an interdisciplinary research cooperative founded in 2013 that is at the forefront of biomedical research on the devastating eukaryotic pathogens, Dr. Ingram Smith’s lab is interested in the intestinal parasite Entamoeba histolytica, which causes severe dysentery in ~100 million people each year worldwide.
E. histolytica causes amoebic dysentery in ~100 million people each year. E. histolytica is ingested in its cyst form in contaminated food and water. In the small intestine it converts to its amoeba form and then colonizes the large intestine, where is can cause dysentery or establish an asymptomatic infection.
Dr. Ingram-Smith’s lab is studying how E. histolytica adapts to and thrives in the glucose-poor environment of the large intestine where it colonizes. Her lab has established robust, reproducible cyst formation in laboratory culture and are studying how this process is regulated directly in the human pathogen.
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!”
Director of the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovations Center (EPIC) and professor of Genetics and Biochemistry Dr. Kerry Smithhas 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.
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.”
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.”
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).
“In this role, I am able to extend my efforts beyond my own laboratory’s research and assist in advancing impactful health-related research in diverse scientific and clinical fields,” said Smith.
PHERI, a collaboration between Prisma Health, Clemson, Furman University and University of South Carolina, seeks to bridge the gap between academics, research, clinical practice and healthcare transformation in a way that is innovative, inter-institutional, inter-professional and interdisciplinary. In his new role, Dr. Smith will work to build and enhance research collaboration between Clemson researchers and clinical faculty from Prisma.
“The increased collaboration will be advantageous for both Clemson researchers and the clinical faculty, as it will enable the Clemson researchers to conduct health-related research in an applied environment that will have a positive impact on individuals,” Smith said. “This will enable the clinical faculty member to offer scientific assistance for innovative interventions that could potentially be implemented outside of Prisma Health–Upstate.”
As campus research director for PHERI, Smith expects these collaborations to continue to generate presentations at conferences for academic researchers and for physicians and healthcare professionals, publications in peer-reviewed journals and external funding.
“Kerry has shown his commitment to our vision of expanding health research at Clemson,” Sherrill said. “We look forward to his success in his new role as Clemson University Campus Research Director for Prisma to enhance our research partnerships and Clemson’s health research mission.”
