Greetings from Genetics and Biochemistry

The festive season is here, and with it the end of the Fall 2024 semester. We have much to celebrate and be thankful for in our Genetics and Biochemistry community! I especially want to highlight the wonderful response made by our students to Hurricane Helene at the end of September. As you know, the storm left many, many people without power (some for many weeks) and caused much property damage and even loss of life across the region. Our G&B Graduate Student Association stepped up to mount a donation drive and collected boxes of canned goods, baby formula, jackets and sleeping bags. They then partnered with Hometown Market in Clemson to get the donations delivered to relief locations in the Asheville area. Graduate student Kassandra Roemer, leader of the drive, says, “It was amazing to see how everyone in the department came together to support the effort. It felt great to make even a small difference.”

Our students and faculty are engaging with real-world challenges and making a difference in many other ways, too. For example, below you’ll see stories about senior genetics major Sofia Willey and her experience confronting Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and a TV news piece with Professor Alex Feltus about use of artificial intelligence in the classroom. And I can’t pass up the opportunity to congratulate Professor Trudy Mackay on her election to the National Academy of Medicine! It’s a phenomenal honor and a first for Clemson.

Go Tigers!

David