[{"id":1896,"date":"2026-10-13T11:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2026-10-13T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:34:07","slug":"alumni-stories-makenzie-ohlin-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/10\/13\/alumni-stories-makenzie-ohlin-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Stories: Makenzie Ohlin \u201921"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A career in genetic counseling had always been on Makenzie Ohlin\u2019s \u201921 radar during her time as a genetics student at Clemson University. After gaining experience in a research chemistry laboratory following graduation, Makenzie went on to pursue that passion and now serves as a Pediatric Genetic Counselor at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally from Ohio, Makenzie graduated from high school in Charleston, South Carolina, before making her way to Clemson. Drawn to the university by its unique genetics degree program and proximity to the mountains, she embraced life as a Tiger, spending her time hiking, visiting the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, working at Starbucks on Tiger Blvd. and being a member of the Genetics and Biochemistry Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the limitations COVID-19 placed on in-person research opportunities, she made the most of the academic and virtual opportunities available to her such as Crisis Textline and the University of South Carolina’s Genetic Counseling Online Summer course. One specific Clemson course that made a lasting impression on Makenzie was MICR 4170 (Cancer and Aging), which she enrolled in for her microbiology minor, but found it highly relevant to genetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt provided an in-depth review of cancer genetics, oncogenes, and tumor suppressors. I remember this course helping fuel my interest in genetic counseling, particularly when learning how targeted treatments and therapies are designed. It was impactful to not only understand the \u201cwhy\u201d behind cancer, but also to see how genetics can open the door to new treatment options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Makenzie says that both her coursework and the professional and research skills gained during her time at Clemson gave her a valuable skillset needed to be a genetic counselor, noting the senior seminar and the G&B Professional Development course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a strong foundation in basic concepts in genetics, such as inheritance patterns, population genetics and risk assessment is critical to succeeding in both a genetic counseling program and in a professional role. The lab work helped prepare me for collaboration and teamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, after graduating in 2021, Makenzie did not immediately pursue genetic counseling. She was offered a job in a chemistry laboratory in Charleston where she gained foundational skills in healthcare, including working with electronic medical records, collaborating with other healthcare professionals and developing an understanding of metabolic and biochemical laboratory testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, my time in the lab helped me realize that I wanted to explore direct patient care and move further into the field of genetics, which led me to work as a genetic counseling assistant. I think being patient with myself and allowing myself to explore different opportunities helped me discover and build my passion for genetic counseling. Being accepted into and completing my genetic counseling degree with honors was a meaningful outcome of that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Makenzie, one of the things that makes genetic counseling such a unique career is the wide range of opportunities within the field. While she currently works in a clinical role, there are many opportunities to participate in research projects, write, present cases and collaborate with peers and students on publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaking the time to explore and experiment with different interests, both during and after my time at Clemson, ultimately led me to where I am today. The biggest difference, however, was gaining exposure to genetic counseling as a career and learning more about the many ways genetic counselors can make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today, as a pediatric genetic counselor for MUSC, day-to-day responsibilities can vary from taking comprehensive medical and family histories, discussing genetic testing options, reviewing genetic testing results, known diagnoses and management guidelines to communicating results to patients, responding to patient calls and messages, interacting with students and collaborating with colleagues on various projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would not be where I am now without my gap year experiences. Working in both a lab and as a genetic assistant for a few years before my graduate program gave me time to fully make my decision to pursue a degree in genetic counseling. To make the most of your time in Clemson, try exploring a diverse number of interests and experiences, even if they aren’t directly related to the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For students specifically looking into a genetic counselling career, Makenzie would tell them to find any way possible to gain exposure; take Intro to Genetic Counseling certificate courses, reach out and do phone interviews, shadow, attend virtual informational sessions; etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makenzie lives in the outskirts of Charleston with her husband and two cats, where she loves reading, hiking, visiting the mountains, trying new crafts and visiting coffee shops. She is looking forward to continuing to grow within her new role as a Pediatric Genetic Counselor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy interests include working with students more, both undergraduates and graduates, working on publications, and ultimately expanding my skillset. On the personal side, I am working on learning new crafts (like crochet), improving my 10k time, and traveling more!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A career in genetic counseling had always been on Makenzie Ohlin\u2019s \u201921 radar during her time as a genetics student at Clemson University. After gaining experience in a research chemistry laboratory following graduation, Makenzie went on to pursue that passion and now serves as a Pediatric Genetic Counselor at the Medical University of South Carolina […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22,254,30138,15711,125083,635,342,4952,125075,125214],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-alumni","tag-clemson","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-genetic-counseling","tag-genetics","tag-research","tag-science","tag-undergradate-student","tag-young-alumni"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/10\/Untitled-October-13-2026-at-11.20.09-3-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1900,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions\/1900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1892,"date":"2026-10-12T09:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T13:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T13:34:12","slug":"metris-takes-research-to-new-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/10\/12\/metris-takes-research-to-new-heights\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e9tris takes research to new heights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Using her single-engine aircraft and a contamination-free air sampling device developed alongside her husband, Jeremy, molecular ecologist and G&B lecturer Kimberly M\u00e9tris collects samples from hundreds of meters above the ground to investigate which organisms are traveling through the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After fights over Hartwell, GA and Clemson, back in the laboratory, M\u00e9tris sequenced fungal DNA from the filters in the device and compared the results with weather records, air-mass models and satellite measurements of vegetation productivity, finding a varied airborne community containing hundreds of fungi associated with plants, animals, soil, wood, dung and decaying leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have the genomic makeup of this whole area,\u201d M\u00e9tris said, describing the long-term potential, \u201cand then how does it change over time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in the Clemson News article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using her single-engine aircraft and a contamination-free air sampling device developed alongside her husband, Jeremy, molecular ecologist and G&B lecturer Kimberly M\u00e9tris collects samples from hundreds of meters above the ground to investigate which organisms are traveling through the air. After fights over Hartwell, GA and Clemson, back in the laboratory, M\u00e9tris sequenced fungal DNA from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[254,30138,15711,445,125131,635,342,4952],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-clemson","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-faculty","tag-faculty-research","tag-genetics","tag-research","tag-science"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/10\/kimberly-metris_091026_PM_081-web-1536x1024-1-150x150.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1895,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/1895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1886,"date":"2026-09-24T12:46:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1886"},"modified":"2026-09-24T12:49:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:49:28","slug":"sekhon-leads-stalk-lodging-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/09\/24\/sekhon-leads-stalk-lodging-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Sekhon leads stalk lodging project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stalk lodging, which is the bending, breaking, or falling of corn stalks before harvest, is a major agricultural challenge, causing more than $6 billion in maize yield losses worldwide each year, according to a peer-reviewed study by Clemson researchers and collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, G&B\u2019s Rajandeep Sekhon is leading a new, four-year, $6 million National Science Foundation grant that brings together plant geneticists, engineers, statisticians and artificial intelligence researchers from Clemson, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Idaho to develop corn plants that are less likely to bend or break before harvest. Sekhon will use Clemson\u2019s $2 million share of the award to investigate the genetic and biological factors that influence stalk strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Researchers will grow and study about 1,000 maize inbred lines in South Carolina field trials, comparing plants with strong and weak lodging histories and measuring their stalk strength, stiffness, diameter, rind thickness and cellular characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to turn the genetic markers and biological insights we identify into practical tools breeders can use to develop stronger, more lodging-resistant corn. Ultimately, that could mean fewer losses in the field, more reliable harvests for farmers and more resilient food production,\u201d Sekhon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in the Clemson News article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stalk lodging, which is the bending, breaking, or falling of corn stalks before harvest, is a major agricultural challenge, causing more than $6 billion in maize yield losses worldwide each year, according to a peer-reviewed study by Clemson researchers and collaborators. However, G&B\u2019s Rajandeep Sekhon is leading a new, four-year, $6 million National Science Foundation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[254,30138,15711,445,635,670,764,125052,342,4952],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-clemson","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-faculty","tag-genetics","tag-grant","tag-nsf","tag-plant-genetics","tag-research","tag-science"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/09\/Untitled-September-24-2026-at-12.41.39-2-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1886"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1890,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions\/1890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1886"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1882,"date":"2026-09-16T10:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1882"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:25:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:25:17","slug":"gb-students-named-2026-national-and-breakthrough-scholars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/09\/16\/gb-students-named-2026-national-and-breakthrough-scholars\/","title":{"rendered":"G&B students named 2026 National and Breakthrough Scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

This fall, Clemson welcomed its newest class of National and Breakthrough Scholars, highlighting students whose talents, curiosity and leadership reflect the university\u2019s commitment to academic excellence. Both programs aim to recruit exceptional students from South Carolina, across the nation and around the world while providing scholars with access to research, mentorship and experiences that broaden their perspectives, deepen their interests and open new avenues for discovery and growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Genetics and Biochemistry had one student selected for each program. Freshman biochemistry student Zoey Bergeron was named a National Scholar, while sophomore genetics student Caroline Clayton was named a Breakthrough Scholar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clemson University\u2019s National Scholars Program<\/a> is its most prestigious and selective undergraduate scholarship, recognizing a small cohort of first-year students for their academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, leadership and potential for impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing named a National Scholar is an incredible honor, and I am so grateful for this opportunity,\u201d says Zoey Bergeron. \u201cI am excited to be surrounded by other motivated students who share my passion for learning and for making tangible differences within our communities. I know that the National Scholars Program will challenge me academically, encourage me to deepen my interests in medicine and research, and help me build a strong foundation for my future and my career.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clemson\u2019s Breakthrough Scholars Program<\/a> supports students who have demonstrated the potential to make an impact in their fields, communities and beyond. Scholars receive opportunities to connect with faculty mentors, research labs and professionals in science, engineering and health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very honored and excited to begin my first semester at Clemson as a Breakthrough Scholar! I was initially interested in the program because it will allow me to focus on STEM and research,\u201d says Caroline Clayton. \u201cI believe the scholarship will be beneficial towards my goals of medicine and clinical research. I have already enjoyed the program very much, specifically the opportunity to conduct research over the summer through the EUREKA! program. I am excited to see what the next four years bring!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations Zoey and Caroline!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This fall, Clemson welcomed its newest class of National and Breakthrough Scholars, highlighting students whose talents, curiosity and leadership reflect the university\u2019s commitment to academic excellence. Both programs aim to recruit exceptional students from South Carolina, across the nation and around the world while providing scholars with access to research, mentorship and experiences that broaden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[673,125019,254,270,30138,15711,125253,635,125196,342,4952,13367,125075],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-biochemistry","tag-breakthrough-scholar","tag-clemson","tag-clemson-students","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-eureka","tag-genetics","tag-national-scholar","tag-research","tag-science","tag-stem","tag-undergradate-student"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/09\/Untitled-September-16-2026-at-10.20.08-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1884,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions\/1884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1882"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1876,"date":"2026-09-14T15:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1876"},"modified":"2026-09-14T15:32:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:32:39","slug":"grad-feature-stephanie-toft-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/09\/14\/grad-feature-stephanie-toft-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad Feature – Stephanie Toft ’26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

August 2026 G&B graduate Stephanie Toft would tell you she had the best of both worlds during her undergraduate career \u2013 experiencing all things college and Clemson while fulfilling her dream of working in aviation for the National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on campus, Stephanie participated in Tigers on Track, a cohort-based internship preparation program for first-generation and Pell\/Federal undergraduate students at Clemson. This program is designed to equip students with the knowledge they need to secure and succeed in an internship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTigers on Track taught me about professional development and gave me valuable information on connections, interviews, and platforms like LinkedIn.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Stephanie was involved in undergraduate research by taking part in a Creative Inquiry for Dr. Michael Sehorn\u2019s lab from the Fall of 2024 to spring of 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was so rewarding to be involved in such cool lab work with Dr. Sehorn’s Lab and also able to have a fulfilling military career.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie has been in the National Guard for nine years as of July and works full-time as a Flight Operations Specialist at a Flight Facility in Greenville. Her unit is involved in a lot of state aid, including helping with Hurricane Helene, the Table Rock forest fires that happened this past fall and rescuing stranded hikers and their pets in state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the devastation that Hurricane Helene has caused the Carolinas, the need for assistance [was] dire and that is one of the many reasons I chose to be in the military \u2013 to aid my state in moments of need.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie will miss the simple days when she grabbed coffee and strolled around campus taking in the scenery, which was one of the first things that attracted her to Clemson in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was grateful to just be able to walk around [campus] every day and sit outside the library or around the reflecting pond and take it all in\u2026Being at Clemson has been some of the most transformative years of my life and an enriching experience overall.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie\u2019s post-graduation plans are to continue her aviation work full-time and also pursue a master’s degree in genetic counseling after taking a gap year to gain clinical experience and shadow genetic counselors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 2026 G&B graduate Stephanie Toft would tell you she had the best of both worlds during her undergraduate career \u2013 experiencing all things college and Clemson while fulfilling her dream of working in aviation for the National Guard. While on campus, Stephanie participated in Tigers on Track, a cohort-based internship preparation program for first-generation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22,673,254,270,30138,15711,635,125191,342,4952,125075,125214],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-alumni","tag-biochemistry","tag-clemson","tag-clemson-students","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-genetics","tag-graduation","tag-research","tag-science","tag-undergradate-student","tag-young-alumni"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/09\/Untitled-September-14-2026-at-15.23.15-1-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1881,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions\/1881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1876"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1872,"date":"2026-09-10T08:56:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1872"},"modified":"2026-09-10T08:56:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:56:54","slug":"mason-receives-samuel-h-wilson-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/09\/10\/mason-receives-samuel-h-wilson-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason receives Samuel H. Wilson Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Assistant professor Jennifer Mason has received the 2026 Samuel H. Wilson Award from the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This award was created in honor of Samuel H. Wilson, who made seminal contributions to the field of DNA repair and who served for decades as a leader at the National Institutes of Health. The Samuel H. Wilson Award is given annually to provide career advancement opportunities for the next generation of environmental health scientists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assistant professor Jennifer Mason has received the 2026 Samuel H. Wilson Award from the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society. This award was created in honor of Samuel H. Wilson, who made seminal contributions to the field of DNA repair and who served for decades as a leader at the National Institutes of Health. The Samuel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10064,254,30138,15711,125122,445,635,342,4952],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-award","tag-clemson","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-dna-repair","tag-faculty","tag-genetics","tag-research","tag-science"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/09\/Jennifer-Mason-photo-150x150.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1872"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1875,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872\/revisions\/1875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1872"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1867,"date":"2026-08-27T11:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2026-08-27T11:52:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:52:05","slug":"miranda-joins-mukhtar-lab-during-sabbatical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/08\/27\/miranda-joins-mukhtar-lab-during-sabbatical\/","title":{"rendered":"Miranda joins Mukhtar lab during sabbatical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Everyone join us in welcoming Dr. Glauco Vieira Miranda, a professor at the Federal University of Technology\u2013Paran\u00e1 (UTFPR) in Santa Helena, Brazil, who has joined Dr. Shahid Mukhtar\u2019s lab as a sabbatical professor for the academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glauco Vieira Miranda, Ph.D., is an agronomist with extensive experience in plant breeding, quantitative genetics, genomics and crop cultivar development, particularly in maize and soybean. His current research focuses on plant breeding and the integration of genetics, genomics, phenotyping, and artificial intelligence, integrating conventional breeding with genomic tools, high-throughput phenotyping, data science and artificial intelligence to improve crop productivity and resilience. Miranda\u2019s lab works primarily with soybean, studying complex traits such as yield, drought and heat tolerance and adaptation to different environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his time at Clemson, Miranda hopes to both establish long-term collaborations between Clemson University, UTFPR, and other Brazilian research institutions and strengthen his expertise in genomics, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence in an effort to apply these approaches to crop improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am particularly interested in developing collaborative research that integrates genomic and multi-omics data with computational approaches to better understand complex traits and identify genes and biological mechanisms associated with stress tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite having more than three decades of experience in plant breeding, Miranda is always excited embracing the opportunity to learn something entirely new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecently, I have been diving deeper into artificial intelligence, data science, and bioinformatics\u2014which sometimes means spending as much time working with Python and genomic data as I do thinking about plants in the field!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone join us in welcoming Dr. Glauco Vieira Miranda, a professor at the Federal University of Technology\u2013Paran\u00e1 (UTFPR) in Santa Helena, Brazil, who has joined Dr. Shahid Mukhtar\u2019s lab as a sabbatical professor for the academic year. Glauco Vieira Miranda, Ph.D., is an agronomist with extensive experience in plant breeding, quantitative genetics, genomics and crop cultivar development, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":1868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[254,30138,15711,635,125052,342,125252,4952],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-clemson","tag-college-of-science","tag-department-of-genetics-and-biochemistry","tag-genetics","tag-plant-genetics","tag-research","tag-sabbatical","tag-science"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/files\/2026\/08\/Untitled-August-27-2026-at-11.44.45-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1867"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1870,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions\/1870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1862,"date":"2026-08-11T11:31:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1862"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:31:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:31:02","slug":"gb-faculty-speaker-invitations-summer-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/08\/11\/gb-faculty-speaker-invitations-summer-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"G&B faculty speaker invitations – Summer 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Rajandeep Sekhon<\/strong> has been invited to speak at the CANVAS 2026 symposium in Portland, Oregon, and the 2027 International Climate Resilient Crop Genomics Consortium workshop in San Diego, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Robert Anholt<\/strong> presented \u201cDazzle \u2019Em With Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation (Presentation Skills)\u201d at the USC School of Medicine\u2019s 2026 SC INBRE Career Development Workshop. He will also organize and co-moderate \u201cTranslational Models for Substance Use Disorders\u201d at the 2026 American Society for Human Genetics Annual Meeting and organize Clemson University\u2019s inaugural Ecology and Evolution Symposium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Rajandeep Sekhon has been invited to speak at the CANVAS 2026 symposium in Portland, Oregon, and the 2027 International Climate Resilient Crop Genomics Consortium workshop in San Diego, California. Dr. Robert Anholt presented \u201cDazzle \u2019Em With Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation (Presentation Skills)\u201d at the USC School of Medicine\u2019s 2026 SC INBRE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[125128],"class_list":["post-1862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1862"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1857,"date":"2026-08-11T10:59:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:00:13","slug":"gb-publish-articles-summer-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/genbiochem\/2026\/08\/11\/gb-publish-articles-summer-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"G&B publish articles – Summer 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Post Doctoral Fellow and Ph.D. student Caroline Palmentiero were co-first authors on \u201cCharacterization of two early lead anti-amoebic agents with activity against Naegleria fowleri<\/a>\u201d which is published in the International Journal for Parasitology: \u00a0Drugs and Drug Resistance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrosophila melanogaster\u00a0reveals distinct metabolic aging trajectories modifiable by the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitor Lisinopril<\/a><\/em>\u201d was published by Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt in the scientific journal Aging Cell.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Hong Luo and his lab published three articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n