Kurup Lab Student Highlight- Clyde David Schmidt-Silva I am a PhD student in the lab of Dr. Samarchith Kurup. I graduated from UGA with a Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2020. My undergraduate research with Dr. Ankita Garg using cell-line human macrophages and attenuated Mycobacterium bovis led me to be very interested as to how pathogens initiate immune responses and the processes required to: control, recruit other immune cells, and clear the infection. I currently am working on improving our understanding as to how immune cells, in particular antigen presenting cells, are recruited to the liver during liver-stage malaria infection in mice and how do liver-resident macrophages function during blood-stage malaria infection. In lab a recent accomplishment for me was being awarded the American Society of Microbiology Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation at the 2025 Woods Hole Immunoparasitology Conference in Woods Hole, Massachusetts! However, outside of lab my biggest accomplishment this past year (and of my life) was getting married to my lovely wife, Estrella Schmidt-Tello, this past July!
