Kiara Umpornpun is a Research Specialist I in the Miller Laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where she serves as a key contributor to the lab’s experimental design and day-to-day research operations. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Clemson University and went on to build her research career at MUSC, developing broad expertise in molecular, cellular, and translational laboratory techniques.

Kiara independently conducts and coordinates both in vivo and in vitro studies, with extensive experience in primary cell and tissue culture, confocal microscopy, ELISA cytokine analysis, protein extraction, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, animal dissections, behavioral testing, flow cytometry preparation and analysis, and cryosectioning. She is frequently responsible for troubleshooting experiments and optimizing protocols to improve reliability and reproducibility across projects. She supports multiple concurrent studies across the laboratory and leads her own independent project, designing experiments, analyzing data, and driving progress from conception to completion.

Through her technical precision, organization, and attention to detail, Kiara consistently generates high-quality, reproducible data that advance the lab’s efforts to translate cellular findings into clinically meaningful outcomes.

With her free time, Kiara enjoys taking advantage of Charleston’s beautiful weather by going on new adventures with her nephews and niece.