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.
Three Genetics and Biochemistry undergraduate students, Kaitlyn Anderson, Berkeley Cannon and Brittain Gainesran a G&B sponsored table at the Be A T.I.G.E.R. Field Day, an event for children that was before the Spring Football Game.
Biochemistry student Mary Grace Flowers represented Clemson University and the department at the 2025 Meeting of the Minds conference, a prestigious undergraduate research and creative inquiry conference that brings students from all 18 ACC member institutions together. Mary presented her research “Examining the Role of Sex in Bone Remodeling using Differential Feeding Stresses.”
Many G&B studentsparticipated in presenting their research at the 20th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry (FoCI) event, Clemson’s university-wide poster forum that showcases undergraduate research, service-learning and other experiential learning activities supported by the CI program.
In April Dr. Haiying Laing’s lab participated in an outreach event at the Hemlock Festival in Mountain Rest, SC, where they engaged with the public, providing educational information on American chestnut trees and the restoration efforts. The lab also volunteered with The American Chestnut Foundation at a Chestnut Return Farm. They inoculated American chestnut trees with blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica for resistance screening. Students involved include Jay Liu, Sky Lu, Roger Zhang and Stone Chen.
Dr.Trudy Mackay, the director of the Clemson University Center for Human Genetics, was honored by the Linnean Society of London with the Darwin-Wallace Medal, one of the top international prizes in evolutionary biology.
Dr. Robert Anholt was named as a 2025 Member of the Advisory Board of the Blackland Charity Initiative in Ghana.
Genetics graduate student Adeyemi Akinade received a scholarship to attend a summer course in statistical genetics in Atlanta.
Senior biochemistry major Albash Kahan recieved first place in the 2025 J.T. Barton Jr. Memorial Ethics Award, which recognizes outstanding students who show exceptional ethical leadership and a commitment to advancing good decision-making on campus.
Alumni Dr. Phyllis MacGilvray ’96, a family medicine practitioner of over 20 years, has been named dean of The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville.
Undergraduate researcher in Dr. Stephen Dolan’s lab Mallory Murphy, a microbiology major and psychology minor, has been selected for the prestigious Blue Key Academic and Leadership Award, which honors one student from each college at Clemson for excellence in academics and leadership.
The Greenville Journal released an article highlighting genetics doctoral student Sriya Pothapragada’s love for both her studies and skydiving.
Senior biochemistry major Kaylee Board was selected to write an “IfYou’reReadingThis” Letter to the Clemson University community.
Albash Khan was part of the team that came in 3rd place at this year’s College of Science Catalyst Competition for their self-heating and cooling lunchbox, ThermaChill.
Jessica Aycock (second year Ph.D. student) received Best Graduate Student Poster Prize for her presentation, “Pseudomonas aeruginosa activates a novel defense cascade in response to fungal toxins”
Muhammad Shafiul Alam Mondal (first year Ph.D. student) was awarded the Best Graduate Student Talk Prize for his talk, “Aspergillus fumigatus demonstrates species-dependent physiological modulation in polymicrobial biofilms”
Cameron Kennedy (freshman) earned Best Undergraduate Student Poster Prize for her work, “Parallel Evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Polymicrobial Interactions with Fungi and Chronic Lung Infections”
Senior biochemistry major Kristen Gulbrandsen placed 1st at the 20th annual Focus on Creative Inquiry (FoCI) event, which is Clemson’s university-wide poster forum that showcases undergraduate research, service-learning and other experiential learning activities supported by the Creative Inquiry program. Kristen’s poster presentation was titled “Enterococcus faecalis Inhibits Clostridium innocuum In Vitro Under Multiple Conditions.”
Senior biochemistry major Kristen Gulbrandsen placed 1st at the 20th annual Focus on Creative Inquiry (FoCI) event, which is Clemson’s university-wide poster forum that showcases undergraduate research, service-learning and other experiential learning activities supported by the Creative Inquiry program. Kristen’s poster presentation was titled “Enterococcus faecalis Inhibits Clostridium innocuum In Vitro Under Multiple Conditions.”
Many other G&B students presented their research at FoCI as well.
The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.The Creative Inquiry poster session in the Watt Family Innovation Center on April 9, 2025.
Every year Clemson University College of Science recognizes some of its most outstanding undergraduate and graduate students during an awards ceremony in the Spring. Three genetics and biochemistry students were honored for their work, dedication and accomplishments at this year’s ceremony.
Brooke Dillingham: Outstanding Junior in Science
This award recognizes the best overall junior in the College of Science based on scholarship and character.
As a member of the Honors College, Dillingham started her research in Michael Sehorn’s laboratory as a Eureka! participant during the summer before her first year at Clemson. Her work involves evaluating DNA repair and genome stability through investigation of the BRCA2 novel binding sites. She has received research grants during her first and sophomore years.
Sehorn writes, “One of her strongest attributes is her passion and focus. These are attributes that demonstrate personal growth and maturity.”
Dillingham has participated in a cultural exchange in Germany and when she is not doing science, she is helping to promote it through writing articles for the Clemson News page and as a member of the Science Student Advisory Board. In addition, she is a mentor with the ClemsonLIFE program and a member of the Pre-Law Society. She enjoys fostering and training dogs from shelters, learning new recipes, reading, traveling and, of course, Clemson Football.
Dillingham plans to attend law school and work an as attorney in either health care, intellectual property or biotechnology.
Elizabeth Caldwell: Outstanding Senior in Science
This award recognizes the best overall graduating senior in the College of Science based on scholarship and character.
Caldwell is an active researcher in Sehorn’s lab, where she estimates she’s spent over 1,000 hours since arriving at Clemson. She is also one of 15 students chosen to participate in a special research project at Prisma Health that studied the role of surgical approach on cholecystectomy outcomes.
She received one of four National Scholars Program scholarships at Clemson and, as a part of this elite program, studied abroad in South Africa. Caldwell has also been named a Truman Scholar.
Alison Starr-Moss said of Caldwell, “She truly embodies the spirit of the Outstanding Senior, with demonstrable impact in every activity she pursues.”
Caldwell is the co-founder and president of Tigers for Accessibility, which serves to address accessibility barriers at Clemson. She is also the student representative of the University’s Accessibility Commission and serves as an Academic Success Center peer tutor and as the Inclusion Chair for the Phi Delta Epsilon South Carolina Beta Club. This fall alone, she has given four public presentations, including a TEDx Clemson talk.
Caldwell volunteers her time at the Clemson Free Clinic and as a hospice volunteer. In her free time, she enjoys hiking the national parks. She has visited 58 out of 63 of them. She also likes writing, baking new gluten-free recipes and watching science fiction.
After spending this summer as an intern in Washington, D.C., as part of the Truman Summer Institute program, she will pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in public health, which she will use to continue to bridge the gap between patient care, disability advocacy and scientific discovery.
Adam Gatch: Outstanding Undergraduate in Discovery
This award is given to a graduating senior who has performed outstanding original research in the sciences. Adam Gatch is a biochemistry major with minors in physics and chemistry with a 4.0 GPA over 158 earned credits.
Gatch has been involved in the research group of Feng Ding, where he uses methods from computational physics to study molecular interactions between proteins relevant to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. This research has resulted in five peer-reviewed publications, including two first-author publications, and five poster presentations.
“What sets Adam apart is his growing ability to independently formulate new research problems — an essential trait for a future scientist,” Ding said.
Gatch has also performed summer research at the Medical University of South Carolina using neuroimaging analysis to find predictive markers of response to drug therapy in Parkinson’s disease.
His body of work has already been recognized outside of Clemson. He is a Goldwater Scholarship recipient and recently became Clemson’s third Churchill Scholar and one of 16 nationally.
Outside of the lab, Adam serves as a tutor at the Academic Success Center, is a member of the debate team, works as an emergency medical technician and volunteers at the Paw Pantry.
After graduation, Gatch will complete a master’s in philosophy at the University of Cambridge before returning to the United States to complete an M.D./Ph.D.
Trudy Mackay, the director of the Clemson University Center for Human Genetics, is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the genetics of complex traits. Her groundbreaking research uses the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to discover the genetic roots of complex traits — traits that are influenced by multiple genes — that are important to human health.
This impactful research has led Dr. Mackay to be honored by the Linnean Society of London with the Darwin-Wallace Medal, one of the top international prizes in evolutionary biology.
“I was surprised and delighted to learn that I am the recipient of the 2025 Darwin-Wallace Medal. It is a great honor to join the ranks of the celebrated evolutionary biologists who are recent and past recipients of this prestigious award,” Mackay said.
The Darwin-Wallace Medal was originally awarded in 1908 to commemorate the anniversary of the reading of a joint paper, which introduced the idea of evolution through natural selection, by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace at a meeting of the Linnean Society on July 1, 1858. The first medals awarded in 1908 were awarded to Wallace himself and six others. The awards were given every 50 years until 2010, when the Linnean Society began awarding it to one person annually in recognition of the growing importance of research on evolutionary biology.
“Dr. Trudy Mackay’s receipt of the 2025 Darwin-Wallace Medal is a remarkable achievement and a testament to her pioneering contributions to evolutionary genetics,” said Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robert H. Jones. “Her groundbreaking research continues to shape our understanding of complex traits and inspire the global scientific community. Trudy’s work exemplifies the excellence we strive for at Clemson, and this honor further underscores the transformative impact of her scholarship on human health and the future of genetic research.”
On Saturday, April 5th, three Genetics and Biochemistry undergraduate students ran a G&B sponsored table at the Be A T.I.G.E.R. Field Day. Be A T.I.G.E.R Field Day went from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. prior to the Clemson Football Spring Game on the Littlejohn Lawn and was open to children grades kindergarten through sixth grade.
This event focused on games and activities teaching the T.I.G.E.R. character traits. Each letter in the word ‘TIGER’ stands for a character trait that is important for young children to understand and practice in their everyday lives:
The G& B table was run by sophomore biochemistry major Kaitlyn Anderson, senior biochemistry major Berkeley Cannon and sophomore biochemistry major Brittain Gaines. There were three major activities for the children at our table.
For the first activity there was a microscope and various plants sealed in petri dishes for the children to look at them under the microscope. The second activity included a mini centrifuge and a few test tubes with different mixtures.
“The kids could place the mixtures in the centrifuge and separate or mix the solutions,” says Gaines. “Some solutions we made were oil and water and colored water with glitter.”
The last activity on the table was coloring with micropipettes. After the children drew a picture with a sharpie on wax paper, they used micropipettes with the G&B students’ assistance to pipette colored water to color their drawings.
“Overall, everything turned out great and the kids really loved the activities!” says Gaines.
Senior biochemistry major Albash Khan was part of the team that invented ThermaChill, which came in 3rd place at this year’s College of Science Catalyst Competition. The third-place position comes with a $500 prize.
ThermaChill is a self-heating and cooling lunchbox, highlighting the student’s innovation and entrepreneurship for creativity and sustainability. The ThermaChill team also included senior financial management major Karthik Beeraka, junior biochemistry major Maxwell BeGole and junior physics and computer science major Eli Skoglund.
The Catalyst Competition, which launched in 2021, is a two-semester program. Participating student teams receive support from professional consultants and faculty advisers. It is an entrepreneurship challenge that seeks to support students in developing their innovative business ideas in the areas of science and technology, where each spring, student teams present their ideas to a panel of judges in a culminating pitch competition for a chance to win cash prizes.
The brain is the most important organ in the body, being our command center and controlling everything from memory and movement to basics like the beating of your heart and breathing, deserves its own week of recognition.
Brain Awareness Week 2025, going on during the week of March 10-16, is the global campaign to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. In a Clemson News article written by our own senior genetics major Brooke Dillingham, assistant professor of genetics Dr. Tara Doucet-O’Hare and her research was featured.
Tara Doucet-O’Hare is an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry and a member of the Clemson Center for Human Genetics. She studies dysfunctional chromatin remodeling’s impact on endogenous retrovirus expression and neural development by looking at how this incorporated DNA can lead to different cancers when mutated, such as clear cell meningioma and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors in the brain.
“These tumors tend to affect really young children. There are no targeted treatment options currently, and it’s hard enough for an adult to live through all of those things, let alone a young child,” she said.
Doucet-O’Hare has recently worked with a retroviral protein called an envelope protein, which is expressed on the membrane of cells and exported in extracellular vesicles. When mutations occur in the chromatin remodeling proteins, the envelop gene can be expressed when it’s supposed to be turned off, resulting in cancerous cells. This protein is more prevalent in cancerous brain cells.
“I showed if you knock out this protein in tumor cells, then you could essentially stop them from dividing so quickly and kill them,” Doucet-O’Hare said.
She and her colleagues at the National Institutes of Health have recently found a peptide that targets the envelope protein and is starting a pre-clinical trial with the National Cancer Institute and a neurosurgeon at the University of Miami to test its use as medicine.
Endogenous retroviruses were first discovered in chickens in the 1960s, leading Doucet-O’Hare to us chicken embryos in her research, obtained from the Clemson poultry farm, to model the migration of cells throughout development and to investigate the endogenous retrovirus life cycle since chickens develop similarly to humans.
The chicken embryo model also comes into use for the connection between retroviral proteins and chromatin remodeling. She looks at which mutations lead to tumors and how different mutations impact tumor location, cell origin and size.
Doucet-O’Hare plans to experiment with exposing the embryos to different carcinogens like BPA in plastics to see the downstream consequences on development in the future.
