Genetics and Biochemistry Seminar Series
2026-04-10 14:30 - 15:20 (America/New_York) | Poole Agricultural Center, Room 174
Dr. Natalie Saini Seminar Title: “Methylglyoxal-induced DNA damage and mutagenesis” Bio: Dr. Saini is an Assistant Professor in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). During her postdoctoral training at NIEHS, she garnered expertise in exploring yeast-based systems, primary human cells and genomic data from sequenced tumors to identify mutation signatures associated with specific mutagens. Dr. Saini developed a novel pipeline involving yeast genetic assays and bioinformatics analyses to identify diagnostic signatures associated with DNA damaging agents in yeast. She then further demonstrated that the signatures in yeast can be used to analyze tumor mutation datasets to determine cancers with exposures to the DNA damaging agents specific to the signatures. This work was used to identify mutation signatures associated with alkylating agents and oxidative damage. At MUSC, Dr. Saini has used these methodologies to identify the mutation signature of acetaldehyde exposure. Her lab found that acetaldehyde is a single-stranded DNA-specific (ssDNA) mutagen. Moreover, my laboratory developed a bioinformatics tool (TriMS) to detect the trinucleotide-based mutation signature of acetaldehyde in yeast and in cancers.

Genetics and Biochemistry Seminar Series
2026-04-24 14:30 - 15:20
Dr. Matthias Garten Seminar Title: “Interfacing Humans from within a Red Blood Cell – Trafficking mechanisms of Malaria Parasites” Bio: Matthias Garten, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the department of Immunology and Microbiology and the department of Bioengineering. He is a membrane biophysicist who is driven by the question of how the malaria parasite interfaces with its host-red blood cell, how we can use the unique mechanisms of the parasite to treat malaria and to re-engineer cells for biomedical applications. He obtained a physics master’s degree from the Dresden University of Technology, Germany and his Ph.D. life sciences from the University Paris Diderot, France. In his post-doctoral work at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, his work led to the discovery of structure-function relationships that govern the host cell – parasite interface, opening research avenues to understand how the parasite connects to and controls its host cell.
