Tag: grad students

The Microbiology Society, together with the British Mycological Society recently announced that Dr. Stephen Dolan and graduate student Shafi Mondal as the joint winners of the 2026 Tony Trinci Award. 

The award is given annually to a researcher deemed to be presenting the best mycological science at one of each Society’s main scientific meetings.

“I’m very grateful to receive the Tony Trinci Award from the British Mycological Society and the Microbiology Society,” says Dolan. “It is a real honor to be recognized in the name of Professor Trinci, whose work helped shape our understanding of fungal growth by linking underlying cellular processes to complex biological behavior. 

Shafi Mondal is currently pursuing a PhD in Stephen Dolan’s lab where is research focuses on polymicrobial interactions involving the human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. 

“In particular, I investigate how A. fumigatus remodels its transcriptional landscape in the presence of bacterial species commonly found in the cystic fibrosis lung, and how these changes contribute to tolerance against clinically and environmentally relevant stressors,” says Mondal.

Mondal sees receiving the Trinci award as an encouraging step as he continues to develop as a researcher in mycology, hoping to improve understanding of fungal pathogens and the challenges they pose to human health.

In mid-April Dolan and Mondal travelled to the UK to present their award presentations at Microbiology Society’s annual conference. Mondal’s presentation was titled “Cross-Kingdom Microbial Interactions Reveal Genes Driving Stress Tolerance in Aspergillus fumigatus” and Dolan’s was titled “Interkingdom Cross-Talk Between Aspergillus fumigatus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an In Vitro Model of Respiratory Co-infection.”

The Clemson University College of Science recognized some of its most outstanding undergraduate and graduate students during an awards ceremony on April 9.

The following G&B students were recognized.

Ryan Mehlem: Outstanding Undergraduate in Discovery Award

Ryan Mehlem, an Honors College student with a biochemistry major with minors in cluster engineering and business administration, has built an outstanding research record across multiple labs, spending more than four years studying thermal adaptation, azole tolerance and gene expression in Aspergillus fumigatus. 

This award is given to a graduating senior who has performed outstanding original research in the sciences.

Katie Barfield: Blue Key Academic and Leadership Award

A genetics and sociology major with a minor in gender, sexuality and women’s studies, Katie Barfield has worked in Miriam Konkel’s lab, participated in research at Johns Hopkins University and has conducted a greenhouse assay at the Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture in Malaga, Spain.

The Blue Key Academic and Leadership Award recognizes one student in each of the colleges at Clemson who has distinguished themselves in academic scholarship and campus leadership.

Jerry (Rui) Che: Outstanding Graduate in Discovery 

Jerry (Rui) Che is a Ph.D. candidate in genetics and during his graduate studies, Che helped create a new research method that made it possible to study how certain molecules inside cells are controlled, leading to the identification of important pathways involved in how cells process nuclear RNA. He also discovered two human genes, which he named RMP24 and RMP64 and helped develop an E.-coli-free cloning method and a way to build much larger DNA libraries for genetic research. The new cloning method was patented.

This award honors doctoral students in the College of Science who have made distinctive and discernable contributions to their field.

Ava McKee: SciSAB Outstanding Board Member

Ava McKee has been a member of Science Student Advisory Board for three years, most recently serving as grant officer and will step into the role of vice president for outreach next year. As grant officer, she led the coordination of SciSAB’s grant in aid of research award program, applications increasing by 91%, and helping award $6,200 in funding. Her plans as vice president for outreach next year are to increase volunteering opportunities and strengthen the partnership with the Science Outreach Center.

Read more in the Clemson News article.

Assistant professor in Genetics and Biochemistry Dr. Stephen Dolan, who is also a part of the Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), has joined forces with molecular biologist Gustavo Goldman at the University of São Paulo in Brazil to understand how dangerous fungi survive their own poisons and how that could be turned into a new antifungal drug.

The two researchers work on the fungi Aspergillus fumigatus, a common mold that can cause life-threatening lung infections in people with weakened immune systems. A. fumigatus produces a potent toxin called gliotoxin that enables the fungus to cause disease and outcompete other microbes, but it is also so toxic that it can poison the fungus itself. To survive, the fungus has developed protective systems that neutralize gliotoxin.

With Dolan specializing in creating mutant strains of fungi and analyzing the resulting data to see which genes matter most for survival and Goldman’s strengths in fungal genetics and biochemistry, the team was able to connect molecular mechanisms to big-picture questions about how fungi cause disease.

Together they discovered that mitochondria are a key weak spot for gliotoxin. The toxin disrupts mitochondrial function, and when defenses fail, the fungus’s energy systems collapse, leading to cell death. The results reveal new details about how fungi defend themselves against their own toxins and highlight mitochondria as a possible target for future antifungal treatments, which is important because drug resistance is on the rise and current treatments for fungal infections can be toxic or ineffective.

Dolan has actually been working with Goldman since his Ph.D. and they have published two papers together, with more forthcoming and they’ve started participating in virtual joint lab meetings once a month. Dolan believes that collaboration in research is essential for impactful work.

“The mindset of working independently without engaging other labs is disappearing,” Dolan says. 

Read more in the Clemson News article.

“Science isn’t done in isolation. Labs must collaborate with others to move science forward. That’s just the nature of science…” says Dr. Kerry Smith, a professor in the Clemson Department of Genetics and Biochemistry and director of Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC).

This ideology is part of what prompted EPIC, which is one of Clemson’s largest research centers, to join with partners from around the world to form EPICON, the Eukaryotic Pathogens International Consortium. Dr. Smith now serves as EPICON’s first board chair.

The consortium founding members include the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil, the University of Ghana and Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador (PUCE), which complement and supplement the research done by EPIC’s 24 faculty members, who represent three colleges and eight departments. 

“We realized that to tackle a serious global problem, we would need global partners,” said Bruce Rafert, the founding executive director of EPICON. “A new consortium made a lot of sense.”

Our partners are spectacular. USP is a top 100 global institution, and Ghana and Ecuador bring front-line experience with the very pathogens we study. The consortium essentially blankets the area where the global impacts of our pathogens are most severe and cause the biggest problems.” Rafert said.

The consortium was built on existing collaborations at the scientific level such as Stephen Dolan, an assistant professor in the Clemson Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, and Gustavo Goldman, a professor at USP, who have a close working relationship. Dolan began visiting Goldman’s lab while working toward his Ph.D. in Ireland and he and two of his graduate students traveled to Sao Paulo and Goldman’s lab. Goldman even visited Clemson last summer. They’ve published two scientific papers together.

Stephen Dolan, an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University, does research focused on understanding the molecular interactions between bacteria and fungi which infect the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis. He found what he believes to be a new mechanism of how bacteria see and respond to fungal toxins during polymicrobial infection.

“When you combine the knowledge of many groups, it could give a better understanding of the whole problem,” Goldman said. 

Read more in the Clemson News article.

The Biochemistry Bachelor of Science program at Clemson University has been fully re-accredited by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) for another 7-year cycle.

The website notes that ASBMB accreditation is a national, independent, outcomes-based evaluation system that recognizes excellence in B.S. or B.A. degree programs in biochemistry and molecular biology. A committee of experts from academia and the private sector judge three program areas: curriculum, faculty and infrastructure.

The benefits to an ASBMB accreditation can include recognition for upholding the highest standards of education, leverage in gaining outside resources and advantages in recruiting students.

The society noted our outstanding faculty, strong curriculum and continuous strides to improve the program.

Associate professor Rajan Sekhon along with a team of researchers at Clemson University and partner organizations have received a $2.4 million, four-year grant to map genes that control leaf senescence in corn. Funded by the National Science Foundation through both the Plant Genome Research Program and the Cross-Directorate Activities program, this project aims to sustain photosynthesis longer, improve yield stability and support smarter on-farm nitrogen use.

Trudy Mackay was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine.

The Board of Trustees recently approved the elevation of the Center for Human Genetics (CHG) to the Institute for Human Genetics (IHG).

Kim Paul celebrated 20 years of service at Clemson University!

Postdoctoral fellow Joshua Turner received a travel award from the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomic Society to attend their annual meeting,

For International Microorganism Day Clemson News highlighted G&B’s Manuel Fierro and his research with the cell biology of the microorganism that causes malaria.

Three G&B lecturers were recently promoted to senior lecturer including Heidi Anderson, Michael Harris and Todd Lyda.

Caroline Palmentiero won best talk at the 20th International Free Living Amoeba Meeting in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

Graduate students Sky Lu and Roger Zhang gave poster presentations on their dissertation research at the North Carolina Chestnut Festival, where Sky won first prize for her presentation.

Recently Haiying Liang and her lab assisted at the Chestnut Return Farm in Seneca, SC and the North Carolina Chestnut Festival in Asheville, NC

Tara Doucet-O’Hare was invited to give a seminar to the Department of Biology at UNC Asheville. The title was “Diving into the dark genome: endogenous retroviruses in human health and disease.”

The Witt Dillon lab published “The MUC19 gene: An evolutionary history of recurrent introgression and natural selection” in Science.

Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt published “Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Metabolic Aging: A Drosophila Perspective” in Biomolecules.

Tara Doucet-O’Hare’s lab published two textbook chapters for the book “Transposable Elements in Human Health and Disease” that is being published by Springer Nature. The titles of the chapters published are “The Role of Transposable Elements in Development” written by Doucet-O’Hare and John R. McCoy and “The Role of Transposable Elements in Therapeutics,” written by Doucet-O’Hare and Kathryn Howe.

“A Quest to Root Chestnut Cuttings” was published by Haiying Laing in the Chestnut magazine, a publication of the American Chestnut Foundation.

Graduate student Ashley Kirby, along with assistant professor Miriam Konkel, published “Structural and transduction patterns of human-specific polymorphic SVA insertions” in Mobile DNA.

Jennifer Mason and her lab published “Overexpression of NEK8 inhibits homologous recombination” in DNA Repair.

Pursuing a Ph.D. wasn’t always the plan for biochemistry alum Sydney Clark ’25, who is currently a first year Ph.D. student in the Healthcare Genetics and Genomics Laboratory under the School of Nursing at Clemson University.

“Although I had strong grades, I didn’t imagine I would be accepted into a PhD program right out of undergrad. I was told I needed to have a very clear trajectory for why I wanted to pursue graduate school and where I wanted to end up after I received a graduate degree. While I still do not have a perfectly defined path for my future, I know this was the best next step I could have taken.”

Originally from Charleston, SC, Sydney came to Clemson for undergraduate studies, graduating in May 2025 with a degree in biochemistry with minors in microbiology and biological sciences. Sydney first joined the Healthcare Genetics and Genomics Lab during her junior year and later applied to continue the Ph.D. research with the help of her mentor, Dr. Aubrey Mattingly.

“I am now working as a Graduate TA/RA for the HCG Lab, where I help train undergrad students in various aspects of cancer research.”

Sydney’s dissertation work focuses on the use of natural pharmaceutical extracts to treat breast cancer in a zebrafish model organism. Specifically, she studies how these herbal extracts influence the regulation of key anti-cancer genes involved in apoptosis, proliferation, migration, and other processes.

“This program has already allowed me to gain hands-on experience with a wide range of laboratory techniques, including culturing, fluorescent tagging, metabolomics, embryo microinjections and fluorescent microscopy, among others. More importantly, it has given me the freedom to explore, experiment and teach others the “why” behind what we do in research.”