Christine Byrum

Christine Byrum is an Associate Professor at the College of Charleston, with her office and laboratory situated in the Rita Hollings Science Center.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin
• M.S. from Clemson University
• B.S. from the College of William and Mary

Dr. Byrum's research program has two main thrusts. First, she studies cell fate specification in sea urchins, focusing on Wnt signaling in endomesoderm development and the role of nuclear transport proteins in regulating transcription factor access. Second, she leads the college's participation in the HHMI SEA-PHAGES program, where undergraduate students discover and genomically characterize bacteriophages.

Her publication record shows a recent shift toward bacteriophage genomics, with multiple papers on phage genome annotation and the educational aspects of course-based research. Earlier work centered on developmental mechanisms in sea urchins.

She teaches a range of courses including Genetics, Molecular Biology Lab, Biology of Invertebrates, and Introduction to Genomics. Through the SEA-PHAGES program, she mentors numerous undergraduate researchers in phage discovery and genomics.

Her laboratory (Room 132 in the Rita Hollings Science Center) supports both sea urchin developmental biology and bacteriophage research projects.