DATE: March 30, 2009

CONTACT: Barbara Speziale, 864-656-1550
bjspz@clemson.edu

WRITER: Susan Benson, 864-656-3869
benson2@clemson.edu

Two Clemson University students chosen for international research program

CLEMSON, S.C. — Two students from Clemson University's department of biological sciences have been selected to conduct 10-week research experiments under the supervision of Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholars. All of the students’ expenses will be supported by Clemson’s SC LIFE program.  

In June, Thomas Niemeier, a senior majoring in microbiology, will travel to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, to work in the lab of Valerie Mizrahi.

“I chose to work under Dr. Mizrahi because of her international reputation as a top infectious disease researcher,” Niemeier said. At Clemson, he worked with assistant professor Tamara McNealy doing research in the field of pathogenic microbiology and with assistant professor Harry Kurtz Jr. in microbial genetics. Niemeier will attend medical school in the fall.

Monique McKiever, a sophomore in biological science from Sumter, was selected to work with Maria Mota at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, University of Lisbon, Portugal.

McKiever worked at Clemson with assistant professor Susan Chapman on research that seeks to help scientists and medical experts identify genetic problems and repair hearing defects while a child is still in the womb. Chapman recently was awarded a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for this research.

Dr. Mota’s work involves working for a cure for malaria.

“Malaria is a leading cause of death in many tropical and subtropical regions,” said McKiever. “I wanted to expand my research work and do something that might help eliminate malaria.

“Not many people have the opportunity to get funding to go abroad and do research on something that is so important to world health," she said. "I hope that this experience will make a contribution and help me clarify my future goals: whether to become a research scientist or to pursue the M.D.-Ph.D.”

This is the third year that the SC LIFE program has selected students for International Undergraduate Research Awards. In the summer of 2007 David Jacobs went to Croatia to work in the lab of Marina Santaic at the University of Rijeka in Croatia. Donald MacKay traveled to Tasmania in 2008 to work with Simon Foote, also doing research on malaria.

The International Undergraduate Research Awards are sponsored by the SC LIFE program. Since 1998 SC LIFE has been funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to promote science education for middle and high school teachers and students and to provide research experiences for undergraduates.

END

Howard Hughes International Research Scholars

HHMI’s International Research Scholars are promising scientists from outside the United States who are making significant contributions to understanding basic biological processes or disease mechanisms, but whose careers are still developing. One group is based in the Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. Another is from Canada and Latin America, and a third comes from countries around the world but shares a research focus on infectious diseases or parasitology.

HHMI is a non-profit medical research organization that ranks as one of the nation’s largest philanthropies. HHMI plays a powerful role in advancing biomedical research and science education in the US. In the past two decades HHMI has made investments of more than $8.3 billion for the support, training and education of the nation’s most creative and promising scientists. HHMI commits almost $700 million a year for research and distributes more than $80 million in grant support for science education.