Protecting the brain with chemistry

Using chemistry tools to approach questions about medicine is what drew St. Clair to the University of Cincinnati, where he studies in Professor Ruxandra Dima’s lab.

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dima said St. Clair and the other graduate students in her lab are studying the degeneration of tiny, threadlike components of neurons called axons that transmit messages between cells. Their deterioration can lead to diseases like Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and cancer, Dima said.

“Our research, which combines high-performance computing with artificial intelligence models and experimental characterization, is focusing on an understudied family of proteins related to human pathology, thus holding the promise to shed new light on neuronal diseases,” Dima said.

Among the lab’s research projects, St. Clair is examining why proteins fail to bind within cells, particularly to structures called microtubules that serve as the cell’s lattice and nutrient transport system. When this happens, proteins such as tau that are associated with dementia can accumulate and the microtubules collapse, destroying synapses responsible for brain activity.

“Microtubules are the highways of your cells. They are dynamic. They need to reorganize and change,” St. Clair said. “And so I’m looking at proteins like tau that change the way microtubules are organized in the cell.

“By understanding proteins like tau, we can understand neurodegenerative disorders,” St. Clair said.

Later this year, St. Clair will pursue his interest in computational chemistry through a new fellowship at the Air Force Research Laboratory. His topic: new applications in AI in human health.

“That topic was right up my alley. It’s right in the realm of things I want to be doing in chemistry,” he said.

St. Clair said he was excited to receive the news about the fellowship.

“I audibly gasped. I think every grad student has a moderate level of impostor syndrome,” he said. “You apply, but you don’t expect to get it.”

St. Clair grew up outside Springfield, Illinois. He has three older brothers, Zachary, Harrison and Jackson. Like him, all are named for U.S. presidents.

He graduated from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, before coming to UC to pursue a doctoral degree.

“I did a research internship here in Dr. Dima’s lab and I loved it,” he said.

He felt at home in Cincinnati. And with a brother working at UC Health, he has family here.

“When you’re looking for a PhD program, you have to love where you’re living because you’ll be here for five years,” he said. “You don’t want to be somewhere you’ll be miserable.”

He's happy to call Cincinnati home and is making the most of UC's vast offerings.

When he’s not in the chemistry lab, St. Clair takes voice lessons from UC’s College-Conservatory of Music.

“I’ve been in choral stuff my whole life. CCM has really good vocal directors,” he said. “Your voice is an instrument, so you have to train it. Singing is 20% talent and 80% effort. It’s something you have to work at.”

St. Clair said one of the biggest public misconceptions about chemistry is that it is limited to lab coats, glassware and lab experiments. He is studying computational chemistry, which means most of the time he is in front of a computer doing modeling.

“Organic chemistry isn’t the only field out there. Some people make sensors. Some people do modeling. Some people work in biochemistry,” he said.

When he tells people what he’s studying, they sometimes mention how difficult chemistry was for them, he said. Chemistry consistently ranks as one of the most challenging college subjects and majors in student opinion surveys.

“You don’t have to be a super genius to go into a STEM field. It’s more about your ability to overcome,” St. Clair said. “People think they can’t do it. But honestly through brute force and willingness to learn and eagerness to improve, they could be better at it than they think.”

Featured image at top: UC chemistry student Carter St. Clair received a research fellowship at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Paterson Air Force Base. Photo/Jenna Adkins-Manuel/UC Marketing + Brand