Lenox Hill Neurosurgery is a top destination for advanced cranial and spinal care, consistently ranking among the best hospitals in the world for neurosurgery by annual rankings in U.S. News & World Report.
Griffin is not new to research. While an undergraduate he performed research in Dr. James Morris’ lab where he studied the metabolism of T. brucei and Nagleria Fowleri.
This also isn’t Griffin’s first time at Lenox Hill. One summer, he had the opportunity to shadow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital – the very same department he works in now.
“This experience affirmed my passion to pursue a career in medicine and my interest in neurosurgery.”
Griffin is using his time at Lenox Hill to hone in on and perfect his research skills before applying to medical school and is finding his time valuable.
“It’s going great! I’ve really enjoyed learning how to use clinical research and technology to optimize patient care. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring ways to incorporate AI into neurosurgical practice.”
Congrats and continued good luck to recent graduate Griffin!
Biochemistry alum Dr. Phyllis MacGilvray ’96 became interested in medicine at an early age because of her relationship with her family doctor.
“I have a curious mind and was always asking, ‘Why?’ I found science fascinating because it gave me an avenue to finding answers,” she said. “Medicine was just a natural fit for me.”
In July, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville named Dr. MacGilvray, a family medicine practitioner of over 20 years, its dean.
Dr. MacGilvray earned her doctor of medicine degree in 2002 from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston before completing her residency in family medicine at the University of Vermont, followed by academic leadership positions at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune and at the University of Texas Health San Antonio.
She then returned home to South Carolina in 2018 to take a position with Prisma Health—Upstate as vice chair for academic affairs in family medicine, becoming department chair in 2020 and leading the development of two new graduate medical education programs, which tripled the number of family medicine residency positions at Prisma.
Dr. MacGilvray will serve as dean for a two-year term – a time in which she plans to bolster the school’s research footprint and elevate the school’s lifestyle medicine mission. She is the first medical school dean in the country who is board-certified in lifestyle medicine, which focuses on using evidence-based lifestyle interventions to prevent, treat and reverse chronic diseases.
“Learning from the very first day of medical school how to educate patients holistically is only going to improve the care of their patients down the line,” Dr. MacGilvray said.
When Derrill Schumpert, M.D. was in middle school, he briefly wanted to be in a rock band when he grew up. He did end up being a rock star, just in a different capacity.
A life-long Clemson fan, Dr Schumpert’s love for the university was sort of passed down – his grandfather, father and brother all graduating from Clemson before him. When he arrived as a freshman, Derrill majored in biochemistry and minored in biological sciences.
After his dream of playing in a rock band subsided in high school, he became interested in medicine, and his studies in college only solidified that interest.
“I’ve been interested in medicine since high school but discovered interest in family medicine throughout college and interest in student health through residency.”
When Dr. Schumpert was an undergraduate at Clemson he was involved in a number of extracurricular activities including researching at the Organic Farm, two distinct research farm locations in Clemson; participating in Clemson Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national health pre-professional honor society; volunteering at Clemson Free Clinic, which provides free medical care and pharmaceuticals for eligible residents of Clemson, Central, Six Mile and Pendleton; and enrolling in the Clinical Applications course where he was able to gain shadowing experience.
After graduating in 2017, Dr. Schumpert attended East Tennessee State University (ETSU) for medical school with an emphasis in rural primary care. The Rural Primary Care Track at ETSU is a specially designed experience embedded within the overall four-year curriculum for students interested in practicing primary care in rural or underserved areas. It provides opportunities with a small cohort of students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to practice in communities with limited resources and increased healthcare disparities. After medical school. Dr. Schumpert went on to residency.
“This June I completed my residency in Family Medicine with Prisma Health (Oconee Memorial Hospital).”
Upon completing his residency, everything comes full circle as Dr. Schumpert begins to live out his dream of being a rock star, serving as a staff physician at Redfern Health Center at Clemson University. Redfern strives to be an innovative health care system providing integrated quality services that are responsive to the needs of the University community.
“I get to work with a team of other physicians, nurses and specialists to provide care to undergraduate and graduate students of the Clemson University community.”
Dr. Schumpert notes that his biochemistry major provided a great foundation for a career in medicine. He is enjoying being back in the Clemson area, having free time again after completing residency, going to all the home Clemson games, hiking, running and spending time with his wife – another biochemistry major – family and friends.
“I love living in Clemson and getting to work for my alma mater!”
Senior biochemistry major Harmon Vison has been on both sides of the medical field. Around a year old, he was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Hemihypertrophy, which gave him the inspiration to study biochemistry and eventually go on to medical school.
Hemihypertrophy is a condition in which one side of the body or a part of one side of the body is larger than the other. Throughout his young life, Harmon went through numerous surgeries with Dr. Gurpur Shashidhar Pai to treat his condition.
“Visiting Dr. Pai and having multiple surgeries has influenced my future career goals. With the goal of attending medical school, I believed that Biochemistry was the right major to achieve these goals.”
Clemson has acted a second home for Harmon his entire life, growing up spending weekends in Clemson tailgating and watching football games and other athletic events. It was his dream university to attend.
“Both of my parents are Clemson grads and Clemson was actually where they met. So I enjoy joking around with friends that if it wasn’t for Clemson, I wouldn’t exist. The family aspect of Clemson has stood out since day one and words cannot describe how thankful I am for that.”
On campus, Harmon is a part of the Honors College and is involved in intramural sports – football and basketball. Throughout high school, Harmon was always involved in a sport and has enjoyed keeping up with physical activities here at Clemson.
When he is not playing a sport, Harmon loves to hunt and fish with family and friends. Offshore fishing has always been a passion of his and he says his love for the blue water will continue in the years to come.
Academically, you will likely find Harmon studying for the MCAT or participating in a summer internship. This past summer, Harmon had the opportunity to intern with Swann and Tolbert Medicine. Swann and Tolbert Medicine practices “concierge” care, which is a membership-based healthcare that pairs exclusive, personalized care with accessibility and convenience.
“Dr. Swann and his fellow coworkers were able to provide me with a very valuable experience and demonstrated proper patient care. This internship provided me with multiple skills while also setting high goals in regards to future patient care.”
After graduation, he plans to take a gap year before entering medical school in pursuit of becoming an anesthesiologist. It has been my lifelong dream to be able to return the same care that was provided to him and to support other patients in need.
“After undergoing multiple surgeries throughout my life, I have seen both sides of the medical field. I was able to build a strong connection with my personal anesthesiologist due to his bedside manner and was truly able to be at ease before a big surgical procedure.”
Harmon is thrilled that he chose Clemson and our biochemistry program, saying it has lived up to all expectations. Harmon says the bonds that have been built will last a lifetime and the preparation for medical school has been top-notch.
“I am forever grateful for Clemson’s Biochemistry program.”
Yellow camellias are far rarer than white, pink and red, found only in south China and Vietnam. Senior biochemistry major Allen Gomez’s research aims to make propagation and growing of yellow camellias easier.
Gomez’s research is done through the Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research program with associate professor Dr. Haiying Laing, whose research focuses on the application of genetics and genomics to improve economically important traits in plants.
“I think it’s really interesting how gene editing and being able to modify and improve certain aspects of different organisms through genetics works,” said Gomez.
Working with first-year Ph.D. student Roger Zhang he has investigated the expression levels of auxin response factor (ARF) genes in Camellia nitidissima, aiming to determine how ARF genes were regulated in yellow camellias, possibly leading to the ability to determine a method to induce adventitious roots and develop a treatment method that would improve the rooting ability of yellow camellias.
Gomez’s end goal is to attend medical school and become a surgeon. He says the research he has done through this project gives him valuable research experience to bolster his medical school applications and allows him to hone skills he’ll use throughout his career in medicine.
“It shows that I am able to follow instructions step-by-step, take precise notes, solve problems, work with others, interpret data and know the importance of sterility. I’ll use those skills in medical school and as a surgeon,” he said.
Gomez’s desire to become a surgeon stems from a childhood experience. When Gomez was 10, he lived in Ecuador. After falling off monkey bars at the playground and breaking his wrist, it was four days before he could get the surgery he needed. That sparked his interest in surgery and a desire to help bring more medical services to rural areas in Ecuador.
“My experiences at Clemson helped solidify my belief that pursuing a medical career is the right thing to do.”
