NSF-NIEHS Centers for Oceans and Human Health

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NSF-NIEHS Centers for Oceans and Human Health

• - Novel integration of NIH and NSF.
• Stimulated by scientific community,
• and by CORE, an NRC report, and
• the Directors of NSF and NIEHS.
• Focus on HAB, pathogens, pharmaceuticals,
• - Integrate biological / oceanographic approaches.

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NSF-NIEHS Centers for Oceans and Human Health

• Joint Request for Applications (RFA)
• Competitive review of Center grant applications.
  
• 20 plus applications
• Four Centers funded
• Washington
• Hawaii
• Woods Hole
• Miami

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Woods Hole Centerfor Oceans and Human Health

• Integrated effort by three Institutions
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.
• Marine Biological Laboratory
• Massachusetts Inst. of Technology

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Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health
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Research Focus

• Harmful algal blooms (2 projects)
• Infectious agents (2 projects)
• Temperate Coastal Waters
• New England waters as a model system.

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Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health
Administrative
Core Stegeman McGillicuddy


Advanced Genomics
Population Biology
Coastal Hydrodynamics
1. Anderson HABs
2. McGillicuddy HABs
Core Facility Sogin Morrison
3. Gast and Amaral-Zettler Infectious Diseases
4. Polz and Lerczak Infectious Diseases
Pilot Projects Director Hajduk
co-Director Hahn
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WHOI
MBL
MIT
Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health
Other Institutes Centers
EHS Centers
Other COHH
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Human Pathogens in the Environment

• -reservoirs
• -favorable growth
• Gene transfer

?
environmental amplification
Shellfish poisoning, toxicosis.
transport
understanding ecology understanding risk --gt
prediction and prevention
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Mt. Hope Bay

• Heavily impacted by humans
• Sewage outfalls, industrial waste, thermal
  discharge
• Mt. Hope Bay Natural Laboratory
• Centralized data bases
• Predictive current models under development
• No microbial or pathogen sampling program
• Proxy for other New England bays

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Vibrio infections - a worldwide problem
Environmental reservoirs, routes of transmission
and infection
WH-COHH Vibrio project

• Understand
• Predict
• Protect

• Wound, eye and ear infection
• rising worldwide
• - numbers not well known

• - Environmental prevalence
• and growth factors
• Gene transfer and
• evolution
• Risk assessment

V. vulnificus V. parahaemolyticus
Seafood consumption - up to 10,000 infections/yr
in US and reports of infection rising (CDC) -
95 of all seafood related deaths
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Human Pathogens Presence Persistence in the
Coastal Marine Environment

• Studies of traditionally non-marine human
  pathogens in coastal marine waters
• Essential to determine their potential to impact
  human health
• Evidence and vectors
• Sea otters, whales, and shellfish can harbor
  protistan pathogens such as Giardia and
  Cryptosporidium
• Shellfish and protists (such as Acanthamoeba) can
  harbor bacterial pathogens such as Legionella and
  Vibrio, and enhance pathogenicity.

(Giardia)
(Legionella in amoeba)
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HAB threats to human health in temperate waters
of the northeastern U.S.
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Woods Hole COHH HAB projects

• Overall objective to link dinoflagellate
  population structure, physiology, and toxicity in
  order to improve prediction and prevention of
  HABs.
• Rationale cellular toxicity varies with
  environmental and genetic factors cell number is
  not always a good proxy for toxicity

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• Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP)
• causes paralysis and death
• causative organism Alexandrium fundyense
  (dinoflagellate)
• widespread and recurrent annual problem
• ongoing shellfish monitoring programs in ME,
  NH, MA, CT

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Germination Only
Germination, Growth, Mortality Nutrient lim.
Germination, Growth Mortality
May Jun Jul Aug
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Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health
Pilot Project Program
Steve Hajduk (MBL), Director Mark Hahn (WHOI),
Deputy Director
2004 Call for Proposals
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Pilot Project Program
Objectives

• Support short-term projects to assess feasibility
  of new research topics
• Generate preliminary data
• Expand scope of Center research
• Expand participation in Center

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Pilot Project Program
Areas of emphasis

• Harmful algal blooms (HABs)
• Water- and vector-borne diseases
• Marine-derived pharmaceuticals and probes

RFP http//grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files
/RFA-ES-03-003.html NRC/NAS (1999) From Monsoons
to Microbes Understanding the Oceans role in
Human Health NSF/NIEHS Oceans and Human Health
roundtable report, December 2001
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Pilot Project Program
Eligibility

• MBL, MIT, WHOI Scientific and Sr. Technical Staff

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Pilot Project Program
Budgets

• up to 50K direct costs
• 1 year no-cost extension if needed
• Earliest start date October 1, 2004
• Salaries
• Supplies
• Student stipend and tuition
• Equipment - not usually
• Travel - meetings No
• Travel - sample collection If strongly
  justified
• Ship time - if strongly justified

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Pilot Project Program
Pre-proposal(required)

• Due July 15, 2004
• 1 page summary of project
• Direct and indirect costs
• 2p CV/Biosketch for PI and other key personnel
  (NSF or NIH format)
• Submit electronically

Steve Hajduk, MBL (shajduk_at_mbl.edu) or Mark Hahn,
WHOI (mhahn_at_whoi.edu)
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Pilot Project Program
Full proposals

• Due August 15, 2004 at 5 PM EDT.
• Title page
• Research Plan (5 pp.) a) Objectives b)
  Background Rationale c) Experimental design
  and methods d) Facilities available and/or use
  of genomics core e) Relevance to COHH
  program f) Broader impacts (see NSF
  guidelines) g) References (not included in 5p
  limit)
• Budget (Direct and indirect costs)
• Budget justification (1 p)
• 2p CV/Biosketch for PI and other key
  personnel(NSF/NIH format)
• Other support (Key personnel NIH or NSF format)
• Human subject / Vertebrate animal approvals
• Submit hard copy (1) and electronically

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Pilot Project Program
Review

• Phase I- Woods Hole COHH Internal Advisory
  Committee (IAC)- outside reviewers (EAC) as
  needed- Written critiques
• Phase II- presentations (10 min) to IAC

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Pilot Project Program
Review criteria

• Scientific merit
• Relevance and potential impact
• Innovation
• Investigators
• Facilities
• Broader impacts

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Pilot Project Program
Questions?
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Model run cyst germination plus growth and
mortality
Present model assumes that all Alexandrium
fundyense cells are the the same (i.e., same
growth rate, nutrient responses, toxicity,
motility, etc.) Will address different strains
known to exist.
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Woods Hole COHH

• Addressing public health issues.
• Incorporating advanced genomic studies and
  oceanography.