The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (SOEST) awarded Early Career Research Fellowships to three outstanding scholars: Sara Kahanamoku-Meyer, Camille Pagniello and Christopher Wall.

Sara Kahanamoku-Meyer

Kahanamoku-Meyer, a specialist in place-based, ʻŌiwi-led paleoecology, uses paleoecology, applied through a kanaka ʻōiwi (Native Hawaiian) lens, to study the impacts of climate change and colonialism on Pacific marine ecosystems.

“This fellowship will allow me to bring conservation paleobiology—a relatively new focus for Hawaiʻi—back to my home community after over a decade living on the continent,” said Kahanamoku-Meyer. “I am particularly excited to be in SOEST, as its faculty, staff, and students all hold a wealth of place-based and interdisciplinary expertise and understand the value of doing research that supports the communities of Hawaiʻi.”

Camille Pagniello

Pagniello鈥檚 research lies at the intersection of oceanography, engineering, data science and marine biology with a focus on developing new tools and approaches to study fish movement, communication and biodiversity in our changing ocean.

“I will be utilizing data science techniques to extract novel information about the ocean from existing data streams and developing new instrumentation platforms to expand the existing ocean observing network,” said Pagniello. “This will provide an ideal environment for conducting impactful research at the forefront of oceanography and to harness the power of low-cost sensors to address interdisciplinary, sustainability-relevant questions.”

Christopher Wall

Wall is a physiological ecologist whose research has focused on coral reefs, wetlands, forests and alpine lakes. Wall uses stable isotopes and molecular techniques to study symbioses, food webs and microbiomes.

“I will be applying cutting-edge molecular tools to understand the interactions between reef corals and macroalgae in the Main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands,” said Wall. “This fellowship represents a unique opportunity for me to return to Hawaiʻi where I can pursue my passions for coral reef research, student mentorship, and community engagement.”

“After a decade of silence, the SOEST Early Career Research Fellowship has come roaring back to life with our selection of three early career scholars,” said Chip Fletcher, SOEST interim dean. “Our goal is to attract and support stellar talent who are hired as faculty and provided with the authority to write grants and develop prominent research programs. We couldn’t be more pleased with the selection of Sara, Camille, and Chris as our new SOEST Fellows and are looking forward to promoting their future success.”

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Research on the trillions of microorganisms that make up a person鈥檚 or ecosystem鈥檚 microbiome can lead to medical breakthroughs to treat diseases, such as inflammatory bowel syndrome and diabetes, and discoveries that transform conservation efforts.

According to a study published in and co-authored by a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa associate professor, microbiome samples from Indigenous communities have the potential to further the fields of medicine, ecology, oceanography and more. However, those same communities often have been excluded from the research process and may miss out on the benefits that result from their contributions to science.

“Unfortunately, Indigenous peoples have experienced exploitation and harm due to microbiome research,” said co-author Rosie Alegado, associate professor in the UH Mānoa . “In this publication, we propose a framework centered on relationality among Indigenous peoples, researchers and microbes, to guide ethical microbiome research. Our framework foregrounds accountability so that historical power imbalances that favored researcher perspectives and interests can expand to provide space for Indigenous worldviews in pursuit of Indigenous research agency and sovereignty.”

Mutually beneficial partnerships

Ethical inclusion of Indigenous communities in microbiome research can provide benefits for all populations and reinforce mutually beneficial partnerships between researchers and the public.

“Microbes associated with Indigenous peoples have been framed as valuable resources to restore lost microbial diversity and treat chronic disease in industrialized populations, but these research directions often do not center the research needs or interests of the Indigenous communities that researchers rely on for microbiome data,” said Alyssa Bader, lead author of the study and assistant professor at McGill University.

The article lays out a framework for ethical microbiome research practices that include Indigenous communities and ensure that these communities reap the benefits from their contributions. The researchers discuss the Indigenous principle of relationality, in which people are interconnected to each other and the world around them, as a framework to guide human microbiome researchers to work in partnership with Indigenous people.

Moving forward

Moving forward the authors see possible next steps:

• (1) researchers working with Indigenous communities should assess their practices to determine how best to move forward with their research in an ethical manner;
• (2) institutions that support researchers should actively assess their own intellectual property policies to ensure that Indigenous peoples with whom they interact retain appropriate control over their data; and
• (3) funders and institutions should be required to adhere to a relational framework with Indigenous peoples involved in research they support.

The authors say that research with Indigenous communities should be deeply collaborative and uphold Indigenous sovereignties throughout the research process.

“It is essential that Indigenous community partners have key roles in co-development of research questions, establishment of protocols for consent and data stewardship and governance, as well as interpretation and communication of results,” said Alegado.

A national center of excellence at the is doing much more than groundbreaking biomedical research. The (ICEMHH) is building infrastructure and capacity to better Hawaiʻi鈥檚 human, environmental and economic health.

“We’re designated a center of excellence for microbiome research. It means that people are really looking to Hawaiʻi to make the next vanguard discoveries in this field,” said Principal Investigator Anthony Amend, a professor with the . “We’re making incredible discoveries about microbiomes—symbiotic microbes, things like bacteria, fungi, viruses that are inside living hosts, including us—and this underpins life on Earth as we know it.”

Utilizing two grants from the National Institutes of Health (COBRE) totaling more than $21 million, ICEMHH has also developed three state-of-the-art “cores”—an insectary, a microbial genomics laboratory and a microscopy imaging center—for cross-disciplinary public impact research beyond how microbiomes impact human health.

Fruit flies, mosquitos, related diseases

The Insectary for Scientific Training and Advances in Research or InSTAR promotes research on insect microbiomes (the microorganisms of a particular site or habitat) and advanced research in medical entomology (study of insects). It offers insect-rearing equipment and services, a collaborative lab and rearing space, insect containment, and other training and insect-management services.

Amend said, “Users of this core include some of our researchers here at the university and state agencies that are trying to understand disease鈥攈ow it spreads in our state and how to mitigate those risks.”

Some of those mosquito-carried diseases include zika, dengue fever and malaria.

DNA sequencing, genetic analysis

The Microbial Genomics and Analytical Laboratory or MGAL houses the necessary instrumentation to provide a wide variety of services, such as high-throughput DNA/RNA extractions (to examine molecules that make up our genomes, and to generate “barcodes” for identifying microbes), amplicon library preparation (a highly targeted approach that enables researchers to analyze genetic variation in specific genomic regions), natural product and small molecule analysis, and culturing and storage of microbial strains.

“What this core does is enable somebody to come in with a sample of an animal or a soil sample or any sort of environmental sample. They can bring it to the core, drop it off and in a matter of weeks come out with a list and a figure of all of the microbes and their genomes that are within that sample,” Amend said. “This has really revolutionized our ability to determine ecological processes that are happening on microscales.”

Photons, electrons, more in high resolution

The Microscopy Imaging Center for Research through Observation or MICRO provides researchers with state-of-the-art instrumentation, training and services for high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, optical, fluorescence, laser scanning confocal microscopy and image analysis.

“You can look at photons. You can look at electrons鈥攁ll these different tools to study microbes in their host environments,” Amend said.

The three research cores have already attracted a wide variety of users.

“We host researchers from all over the world, who come to learn about microbes, to use our facilities and to take that knowledge back to their countries, to develop their own expertise,” Amend said.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was the gentleman who walked in off the street and wanted to know which microbes were in his sourdough starter—which he thought made the most delicious bread and helped to keep his skin clear. In a matter of weeks the MGAL facility had a list of all the beneficial bacteria and yeasts contained in that flour and water sample.

Sustaining excellence

COBRE grants are awarded in three sequential five-year phases.

• Phase 1 awards build capacity in an area of biomedical research through the establishment of a center of excellence that helps develop a critical mass of investigators who are able to compete effectively for independent research funding and improve infrastructure in the center鈥檚 research area. Researchers in 东精影业鈥檚 Phase 1 $10.4-million grant generated almost $22 million in extramural funding.
• Phase 2 awards strengthen successful COBRE Phase 1 centers through continued development of investigators to compete effectively for independent research, pilot project funding and further improvements to research infrastructure at the institution. Improving the three research cores is a focus of 东精影业鈥檚 $10.7-million Phase 2 grant.
• Phase 3 awards provide support for maintaining research cores developed during Phases 1 and 2 to sustain a collaborative, multidisciplinary research environment with pilot project programs, mentoring and training components.

东精影业 will be applying for a Phase 3 award to sustain its world-class microbiome research and three research cores. According to Amend, the center is accelerating many kinds of projects that people care about.

He said, “We hope that by launching this center of excellence and by maintaining these three cores, it puts Hawaiʻi at the forefront of this research where we can make these discoveries to promote our own livelihoods, economic opportunities and sustainability going into the future.”

—by Kelli Abe Trifonovitch

Small invertebrates and microfauna, such as endangered Hawaiian picture-winged flies, play an important role in providing balance to natural ecosystems.

Scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Forestry and Wildlife are working together to re-establish picture-winged fly populations, including Drosophila hemipeza, an endangered species. The project鈥檚 aim is to help restore ecosystem stability, support natural biodiversity, and reduce the likelihood of the species鈥� extinction.

Historically, picture-winged fly populations were found at multiple sites in both the Koʻolau and Waiʻanae mountain ranges of Oʻahu. Today, population numbers have greatly diminished, and their range has been significantly reduced. It is believed that Palikea, in the Waiʻanae Range, may be the only remaining site for these flies, where few are left.

“Contributing factors to their decline include a range of issues that a lot of other native insects face: deforestation, predation and competition from invasives, native host plant destruction from pigs, and climate change,” said Kelli Konicek, entomological research technician with the Hawaiʻi Invertebrate Program.

In conservation efforts, small invertebrates and microfauna often receive less attention than their larger animal counterparts, but their role in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem health is critical. By conserving endangered species such as the Hawaiian picture-winged fly, DLNR and 东精影业 are aiming to create holistic, restored ecosystems.

Improving fly fitness

The researchers are working to stem that tide, rearing D. hemipeza in a lab to introduce into the wild. Through experimentation and ingenuity working with more common and abundant fly species, and leveraging long-term knowledge developed by 东精影业 Mānoa researchers at the Hawaiian Drosophila Research Stock Center, the team developed an effective mass rearing regimen that has proven very effective.

“In the lab, we are trying different methods involving the microbiome to improve reproduction and to understand how a switch from a controlled lab diet and environment to field conditions may impact the flies,” said Joanne Yew, a researcher at the (PBRC) in the 东精影业 Mānoa and Konicek鈥檚 research mentor. “In our experiments, we provide microbe supplements, either from native host plants or from other Hawaiian Drosophila, to developing flies and assess the impact on physiological changes such as egg number and number of offspring.”

The flies are raised in the 东精影业 Mānoa , a facility led and managed by a team of PBRC researchers and faculty. Incorporating microbe supplements, the group hopes to ensure the reared flies are fit and healthy enough to be introduced into nature.

Successful reproduction

The team is slowly releasing these flies at a Mānoa Cliff Restoration site, containing several native host plant species in which D. hemipeza are known to breed. Native ʻōhā wai, hāhā and ōpuhe have been planted by a dedicated group of volunteers in cooperation with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife鈥檚 Plant Extinction Prevention Program.

Scientists began releasing D. hemipeza in October 2022, and by early January, Konicek observed the first unmarked D. hemipeza at the site, a sign that the species is successfully reproducing on its own.

“It鈥檚 really promising to observe flies at the site that we know are not lab-reared,” said DLNR Entomologist Cynthia King. “However, we鈥檒l need to continue the introductions to increase the likelihood the species will establish in the long-term.”

“There is a constant exchange of signals between animals and the microbes in their gut,” said Yew. “What we’re learning from the Hawaiian flies is that the microbiome can have large effects on host reproduction and behavior. Studying the Hawaiian Drosophila and their relationship with their gut microbes will allow us to understand how this sort of inter-kingdom chemical communication shapes the physiology of their host and may influence evolution.”

The keys to saving endangered species and improving the ecology of our communities may be found in thousands of microbiomes and microbes examined by researchers from the ocean to the summit of the Waimea Valley watershed on Oʻahu.

A team of researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (SOEST) conducted this monumental field expedition by sampling more than 3,000 microbes and microbiomes from the ocean of Waimea Bay to the deepest part of Waimea Valley. Their investigation revealed three key discoveries: microbes follow the food web, most of the microbial diversity in a watershed is maintained within the soil and stream water and the local distribution of a microbe predicts how it is distributed globally. Their findings were published recently in the .

Plants and animals are each host to anywhere from dozens to thousands of different microbes, collectively known as microbiomes. They metabolize our food, detoxify contaminants and help fight off disease. Microbes also occupy every habitat around us, but most microbiomes of plants and animals are not present at birth and are acquired. Researchers analyzed where plants and animals acquire microbiomes and where microbes live outside of their hosts.

“Bioblitz” of wide variety of samples

The research team conducted a microbiome “bioblitz”—a near complete census of all environmental substrates and possible hosts to microbes within the watershed. They took more than 3,000 samples from the wet summit of Puʻu Kainapuaʻa, the low floodplain of Waimea Valley and even the clear waters of Waimea Bay. Researchers gathered samples from soil; stream and sea water; animals, including rats, crayfish, mosquitoes and sea urchins; and plants, including trees, ferns and algae; and much more. They extracted and sequenced more than 800 million microbial DNA “barcodes,” to determine which microbes were present where.

“Understanding sources of shared microbial diversity in ecosystems allows us to better understand the origins and assembly processes of symbiotic microbes and their role in preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services,” said Anthony Amend, lead author of the study and associate professor in (PBRC). “If we want to restore native plants and animals to an area, we may need to think about restoring the source environments for their microbiomes as well. Microbes are yet another way that organisms are connected to the environment.”

Key findings

When the team assessed where the largest diversity of microbes was found and where there were fewer species, the structure followed the food web鈥攎any types in soil and water, fewer in plants and fewer still in animals.

“Further, microbes that were found in animals tended to be a subset of the microbes associated with plants and the microbes on plants tended to be a subset of the microbes in soil, water, and sediment,” said Sean Swift, study co-author and doctoral student in the 东精影业 Mānoa . “It鈥檚 as if plants assemble their microbiome from the environment and then animals select their microbiome from that of plants. Microbiomes of organisms are generally subsets of those that are lower on the food chain.”

One obvious means of assembling a microbiome is to acquire microbes from a related host—as a human mother shares her microbiome with an infant, for example.

“However, this model is insufficient to sustain microbiomes across a dynamic landscape,” said Nicole Hynson, associate professor in PBRC at SOEST. “Many plants and animals are sparse, seasonal or ephemeral, requiring that their symbiotic microbes be capable of residing at times in alternate nearby hosts or environments. We found that soil, sediment and water serve as reservoirs for microbial diversity鈥攑roviding environmental waiting rooms for microbes to colonize hosts when they are available.”

Another key finding is that the local distribution of a microbial species predicts its global distribution.

“Microbes that occur in only one or two organisms or environments in Waimea Valley are unlikely to be widespread globally,” said Craig Nelson, co-author and associate research professor in the Daniel K. Inouye and . “Some microbes were widespread in Waimea and are presumably adaptable to all sorts of hosts and habitats. Our analyses demonstrated that those generalist microbes were also most widely recovered from diverse habitats across the globe.”

The recent work shines light on the diversity and distribution of microbiomes at a landscape scale, an approach made possible by the unique structure and habitat diversity of Hawaiian watersheds.

The 东精影业 Mānoa research team included experts from SOEST, , and .

东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 research team members:

• Anthony S. Amend—PBRC in SOEST and botany in School of Life Sciences
• Sean O. I. Swift—Marine Biology Graduate Program
• John L. Darcy—botany
• Mahdi Belcaid—Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology and Department of Information and Computer Sciences
• Craig E. Nelson—Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education and Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
• Nicolas Cetraro—PBRC
• Kiana Frank—PBRC
• Kacie Kajihara—PBRC
• Terrance G. McDermot—PBRC
• Margaret McFall-Ngai—PBRC
• Matthew Medeiros—PBRC
• Camilo Mora—College of Social Sciences
• Kirsten K. Nakayama—PBRC
• Nhu H. Nguyen—College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
• Randi L. Rollins—zoology in School of Life Sciences
• Peter Sadowski—Department of Information and Computer Sciences
• Wesley Sparagon—Marine Biology Graduate Program
• Melisandre A. Tefit—PBRC
• Joanne Y. Yew—PBRC
• Danyel Yogi—PBRC
• Nicole A. Hynson—PBRC

A summer research program provided 11 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) college students from across the Pacific a valuable opportunity to develop their scientific research skills while tackling challenges facing Pacific Island communities. The 10-week program, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补, culminated with student presentations and a celebration at Ulup艒 Heiau State Historic Site on August 5.

The students performed cutting-edge research in environmental biology within the watershed of Kailua in Windward Oʻahu. Student projects focused on various topics including systems biology research to solve issues identified by the Kailua community, fishery science, sustainable agriculture systems, ecological restoration, invasive species science and management, and disease ecology. The place-based focus promoted science learning by linking it with Indigenous Pacific knowledge, fostering an opportunity for effective community engagement and encouraging collaboration among interns.

“As Indigenous researchers, our relationships to place, people and our ancestors are all intricately woven into our practice, understanding and interpretation of science,” said Kiana Frank, program co-lead and assistant professor in the (PBRC) in the . “Our program is built on the foundation of , infused with the intense intellectual rigor of learning ma ka hana ka ʻike (gaining knowledge by doing) huli ka lima i lalo (with our hands turned down) in both service and research to promote skills of , science and ʻ腻颈苍补.”

Student participants went through a rigorous application process. The accepted students had all of their expenses covered through a grant by the National Science Foundation, including travel costs, room and board, meals, transportation and other project expenses.

“I found it to exceed my expectations being a program of not just purely science-based, but implementing culture to our learnings,” said Carlene Blailes, a program participant, current student at and a native of Guam. “Everyone in the program is especially friendly, and it was easy to build connections with one another and for me to come out of my shell. It truly is an outstanding program which pushes us to step out of our comfort zone, to get close to nature and understand the science behind it all.”

Christine Tominiko, a program participant, current student at and a native of American Samoa, added, “I鈥檝e learned that science is a big contributor to the environment and we鈥檝e done a lot of research this summer in order to better the environment around us.”

Training the next generation of NHPI scientists

NHPI are severely underrepresented in STEM majors and careers, greatly reducing the capacity to respond to challenges associated with global change. 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 experts said this is alarming since the small islands of the Pacific are expected to face disproportionate consequences of this global change, including sea level rise, coral reef loss, native species extinction, and increases in the frequency and intensity of storms.

“Access to contemporary technology that produces science is limited, but we鈥檙e dealing with a long lineage of excellent scientists, so much untapped potential,” said Matthew Medeiros, program co-lead and associate professor in PBRC. “A major goal of our program is to build good Pacific Island scientists.”

Medeiros added, “Knowledge has to return to the communities that need it. Knowledge has to return to the places that will benefit from it. Knowledge has to return to the people who helped create it with the scientists.”

Partnering with Kauluakalana

The program partnered with , a non-profit community-based organization committed to natural resource restoration in Kailua, following culturally-informed protocols and integrating Hawaiian ways of knowing. Students worked with their from several 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 colleges and departments (PBRC, , , , ), and Bishop Museum to perform research that helped to inform the objectives of Kauluakalana.

“It鈥檚 so meaningful to see them grow as young scientists, but see their projects develop and go deeper down into the microbes of the projects that they鈥檙e doing on ʻ腻颈苍补 to help revive this area,” said Kaleo Wong, Kauluakalana executive director.

—By Marc Arakaki

World-renowned microbiome research at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 received a major boost by the .

The five-year, $2,499,432 grant will support new research led by Professor Anthony Amend and his team to study how microbiomes influence food chains, which may lead to the creation of more efficient food webs that can potentially increase yield in agriculture, aquaculture and biofuels systems. This is the latest project in a storied history of groundbreaking microbiome research at 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补, spearheaded by Margaret McFall-Ngai, who joined the Carnegie Institution for Sciences in January 2022.

Food chains are inherently inefficient with major and predictable losses of energy due to waste and respiration. Research on food webs has mainly focused on the interactions among plants and animals. However, microbes (microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi) living in and on larger organisms play important roles in their health, rates of reproduction and ability to digest food.

The 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 project will examine how symbiotic microbes contribute to the efficiency of food webs, and how food webs determine the composition of symbiotic microbes. Results may indicate methods to manipulate the composition of microbes to create more efficient food webs that can potentially guide restoration of degraded habitats, capture carbon, and increase yield in agriculture, aquaculture and biofuels systems.

“Every time an animal eats a plant or another animal, about 90% of the energy of that food item escapes in the form of heat, while only the remaining 10% is transferred as biomass,” said Amend, who is the project鈥檚 principal investigator. “This inefficiency is one of the most steadfast rules of life, and is the reason there are comparatively few predators like sharks and lions in nature, but lots of plants and plant-eaters. We now know that symbiotic microbes living inside plants and animals can profoundly affect their ability to digest different types of food. If we can manipulate those microbes to change the efficiency with which food is converted to biomass—even by a small percentage—it could have tremendous impacts on our ability to manage complicated biological systems on which we rely, like watersheds and food systems.”

Amend added, “There has been a lot of great work on how microbiomes impact a single animal or plant, so we decided to scale that up to an entire ecosystem. It鈥檚 wild to think that the smallest living things can have the biggest impacts.”

Also on the research team are (PBRC) Assistant Professor Matthew Medeiros, PBRC Associate Professor Nicole Hynson and Assistant Professor Peter Sadowski.

Advancing microbiome research in Waimea Valley

This project builds on previous research conducted in Waimea Valley that indicated the surprising extent to which symbiotic microbes were shared amongst plants, animals, soils and sediments. This high degree of overlap among microbiomes across an entire watershed indicated that even unrelated organisms were reliant on each other as sources of critical microbial diversity. A commentary on the research was and Amend presented the findings at an Ecological Society of America meeting in August 2019.

Focus of research

Leveraging a model Hawaiian watershed system, this project aims to understand how host-associated microbiomes govern food chain efficiency and how, in turn, position within a food web affects the microbiome. Two experimental systems will be used to explore these predictions. The first is a simple food web that forms in the small pond of bromeliad plants, and the second consists of a lab-based mosquito microcosm. By analyzing the microbial genomic data, the researchers will decipher which specific microbial genes and proteins influence food web efficiency and function by altering digestive capacity of hosts.

The project will help train postdoctoral researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students in microbiome science through research in and out of the classroom. In addition, researchers will conduct workforce development and outreach to under-represented groups including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

This work is an example of 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 goals of (PDF) and (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

—By Marc Arakaki

The University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 pioneering microbiome researcher Margaret McFall-Ngai has been named the inaugural director of a newly created research division of the Carnegie Institution for Sciences that will focus on life and environmental sciences.

McFall-Ngai, a Guggenheim Fellow and member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Microbiology, joined Carnegie in January 2022.

“Margaret McFall-Ngai helped develop pioneering cross-disciplinary research here at the University of Hawaiʻi on the interaction between humans and the environmental microbiome. She鈥檚 broken new ground with her own research on Hawaiian bobtail squid at the Kewalo Marine Lab, which has influenced many students and scientists here at 东精影业 and beyond,” said 东精影业 President David Lassner. “But more importantly, in her years here with us, Margaret has helped us all think differently about life sciences and she has led the cultivation of our next generation of creative and collaborative researchers and students, who are helping us understand and care for our ʻāina and therefore our people.”

“This is an inflection point in the field of biology,” McFall-Ngai said. “We found the microbial world is foundational to the field of biology. It’s the biggest change in our view of the biosphere since Darwin.”

McFall-Ngai has applied for an emeritus faculty position and a non-compensated appointment, which would allow her to continue to write grants with researchers at 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补, which she says is now viewed as a major microbiome research center.

Microbiome mecca

In 1996, McFall-Ngai became the first tenured woman at the Kewalo Marine Laboratory. She left in 2004 for the University of Wisconsin at Madison and held a number of prestigious appointments before returning to 东精影业 in 2015 to serve as director of the (PBRC). Much of her research focuses on the relationship between the Hawaiian bobtail squid and the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Using this model, she and other researchers are studying how the microbiome shapes various aspects of animal and plant life, including development and longevity.

In 2017, a group of cross-disciplinary researchers, including McFall-Ngai were one of the winners of the 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 provost鈥檚 inaugural Strategic Investment Competition. That initial $700,000 investment helped to create the (颁-惭膧滨碍滨). Since that initial investment, 颁-惭膧滨碍滨 has generated more than $14 million in extramural funding to support research and curriculum development. Through it all, McFall-Ngai has served as one of the key advisors to the group.

“They are people who study the microbial world鈥攚hat we call the Earth驶s microbiomes. And those microbiomes are at the basis of health of absolutely everything,” she said. “From the oceans to the soils to the forests鈥攅very animal is impacted by interacting with the microbial world and every plant.”

In 2018, the awarded $1 million to a cross-disciplinary group of researchers headed by McFall-Ngai for a groundbreaking 东精影业 project that established the Waimea watershed on the north shore of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi as a model microbiome mesocosm⏼that is, a study site small enough to thoroughly investigate but large enough to reveal the complexities of natural systems. It was the first study of an entire watershed, from ridge to reef, to map its microbial communities and their ecosystem processes.

That same year, McFall-Ngai, was selected to receive a MERIT award of more than $5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). MERIT or Method to Extend Research In Time awards have been offered since 1986 to “distinctly superior” investigators who have demonstrated high levels of competence and productivity in previous research efforts and “who are highly likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner.”

McFall-Ngai and Researcher Ned Ruby served as principal investigators for a $10.4-million grant awarded in 2019 to a cross-disciplinary group of junior researchers from the NIH (COBRE) to support the first center focusing on the interface between environmental microbiomes and human health.

Many of the researchers who are part of the COBRE grant are housed in 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 new Life Sciences Building. The aim of the three “cores”—microscopy, insectary and molecular biology/biochemistry—are to develop the tools to understand the interface between human and environmental health, and the microbial forces at work.

“The COBRE is a gift to 东精影业. It is the opportunity to create an active center for the study of the dynamic relationship between Earth鈥檚 microbiomes and human health,” McFall-Ngai said. “This gift will not only benefit researchers at 东精影业, but the center has every opportunity for being a mecca for researchers from across the nation and around the world.”

东精影业鈥檚 microbiome future

With McFall-Ngai鈥檚 and Ruby鈥檚 departures, other 东精影业 scientists will assume principal investigator duties for the COBRE grant.

“What I was hoping for with the COBRE core is that we might become something like a Smithsonian tropical research institute, but in the central Pacific for people who want to study the interface between the microbial world and other aspects of the environment,” she said.

Lassner concluded, “We will forever be grateful to Margaret for leading Hawaiʻi to the vanguard of environmental microbiome research and we look forward to our future collaborations as she assumes her new post at the Carnegie Institute for Science.”

—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch

• Related 东精影业 News stories:
  • Human, environmental health research develops via Hawaiʻi landscape, December 11, 2020
  • $10.4M grant to 东精影业 researchers links environmental microbiomes to human health, January 21, 2019
  • Prestigious $5M award for 东精影业 microbial researcher, July 31, 2018
  • Trailblazing microbiome research receives $1M W.M. Keck Foundation grant, September 17, 2018
  • Native squid and its bacterium may help human and environmental health, February 5, 2017

More than 120 baby Hawaiian bobtail squid born from a mother squid collected at Maunalua Bay were sent to the International Space Station in June to help scientists understand how astronauts鈥� health is affected during long space missions. The squid were launched into space as part of 狈础厂础鈥檚 SpaceX 22nd resupply mission and are scheduled to return in July.

Jamie Foster, a University of Hawaiʻi alumna who completed her doctorate in 2000 under the guidance of 东精影业 Professor Margaret McFall-Ngai, a professor at the University of Florida, and principal investigator for a NASA research program (UMAMI), will be investigating how squids are affected by spaceflight.

“The goal of the UMAMI project is to better understand the effects of microgravity, or spaceflight, on the beneficial interactions between animals and microbes,” said Foster. “Beneficial interactions with microbes are critical for animal health. Studying the bobtail squid helps us understand fundamental ways bacteria initiate relationships with their animal hosts.”

Hawaiian bobtail squids have one host and one microbial species, in comparison to humans, which have one host and more than 1,000 microbial species. When baby squid are born, they pick out their symbiont (the bacteria they partner with), and that partner has to drive the development of the tissues it associates with and has to stay in balance to keep animals healthy. This process is the same in humans.

Foster is trying to determine how the squid鈥檚 symbiont-induced development is perturbed in space, to help address health problems that astronauts face during long space missions, such as compromised immune systems and the potential for microbes to become more pathogenic.

“We know that when astronauts go to space, it is not uncommon at all for them to have immune problems, and changes to their microbiota,” said McFall-Ngai, who has been studying squid since 1989. “You have microbes that keep you healthy on your skin and in your digestive system, and there is something about microgravity that disturbs that balance. In sending these squid into space, Jamie hopes to find basic evolutionarily conserved principles that can be applied to the human microbiome.”

Kewalo Marine Lab hub for squid research

McFall-Ngai learned of the Hawaiian bobtail squid as a graduate student, and has spent her professional career of more than 30 years studying the species.

“This particular little squid lends itself to studying symbiosis everywhere from ecology and evolutionary biology all the way up to molecular mechanisms,” said McFall-Ngai. “You can do just about any level of biology with this animal.”

Today, there are many labs across the U.S. and Europe that study squid-vibrio symbiosis, all of which have originated out of 东精影业.

“The community we have is very tightly woven,” added McFall-Ngai. “Jamie got her degree at the University of Hawaiʻi, she comes here often, and she works with the people here and other academics who have come through 东精影业. Hawaiʻi is like the nexus, the center, of the studies.”

“I first thought of the idea for UMAMI while a graduate student at 东精影业,” added Foster. “My work with Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai showed me the importance of beneficial microbes in animal health, but there were no comparable studies being done in the field of space biology. I thought the Hawaiian bobtail squid would be a perfect model organism for this type of spaceflight research. It took 10 years before the first squid went to space in 2011 and another 10 years for the UMAMI mission, but each mission builds on the previous research, and I hope there will be more opportunities for this UMAMI mission to continue.”

This research is an example of 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Researchers have created 3D molecular maps of bacteria, viruses and biochemicals across coral colonies along with their interacting organisms such as algae and other competing corals. Creating these maps allowed the team from the , University of British Columbia (UBC), San Diego State University (SDSU) and elsewhere to discover specific microbial and viral functions that appear to be key components of the coral microbiome.

The study, published in , used a novel combination of state-of-the-art molecular methods with cutting-edge 3D imaging techniques to create high-resolution molecular maps of coral reef organisms.

Healthy coral reefs require coral colonies that are resilient and outcompete other organisms such as algae. The new study builds on the authors鈥� which highlighted the important role that viruses and bacteria play in mediating the clash between coral and algae on coral reefs.

“Our recent research extends this work into a spatially explicit framework and makes for some really impressive 3D molecular maps,” said Ty Roach, PhD, study senior author and post-doctoral researcher at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology in 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 . “Further, we found that patterns in bacteria and viruses that live on and in corals were mainly driven by ecological factors such as how close to a competitor the sample was taken.”

This effort is an example of 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Structure from motion photogrammetry and 3D molecular mapping

The team sampled two coral colonies from a Caribbean coral reef and made 3D reconstructions of the corals and their interacting organisms using a method called structure from motion photogrammetry. Multiple molecular methods were then used to investigate the bacterial and viral DNA, RNA and biochemicals that were associated with these corals. These molecules were then mapped back onto the 3D models.

“The current state of ecology has demonstrated that corals are home to millions of microbes and viruses, which exist in a complex biochemical milieu,” said Emma George, co-lead author of the study and doctoral candidate at UBC. “These viruses, microbes and chemicals in combination with the coral host form a unit called a holobiont. Understanding the roles of each of these players in ecosystem function has become increasingly important as coral reef health has begun to decline over recent decades.”

Functional and healthy reef ecosystems protect coastlines, contribute to local economies and support marine food webs, including fisheries. The new findings have direct implications for coral reef restoration and management, as they provide a more mechanistic understanding of the way that local stressors affect corals and can lead to disease.

Furthermore, Roach highlights that, “the insight gained from this work is allowing us to design and test probiotic blends (blends of beneficial bacteria that can protect corals from local stressors) and phage therapies (blends of bacterial viruses (phage) that can restructure the bacterial community) for use on corals. In this way, we aim to utilize personalized medicine techniques to help corals gain an ecological advantage over competitors such as harmful algae.”

“Additionally, these 3D molecular mapping methods could be applied to many other ecologically important organisms, beyond corals,” said Mark Little, co-lead author of the study and doctoral candidate at SDSU. “It is our hope that this combination of methods to generate underwater molecular maps will be a fruitful way for others to better understand the holobiont of many marine animals and plants.”

–By Marcie Grabowski

Just as beneficial microbes in the human gut can be affected by antibiotics, diet interventions and other disturbances, the microbiomes of other animals can also be upset. In a , a researcher with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (SOEST), determined the skin microbiome of an endangered frog was altered when the frogs were infected by a specific fungus, and it did not recover to its initial state even when the frog was cured of the infection.

All animals host symbiotic microbes—many of which are beneficial—within and on their bodies. For optimal health, this microbial community needs to remain robust and fairly stable, either by resisting change or by recovering effectively after a disruption. Some infectious diseases disrupt the microbiome, but very little is known about what happens after the host is cleared of infection.

Andrea Jani of SOEST, led a team of researchers from the San Francisco Zoological Society, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, USDA Forest Service and the University of California to study the skin microbiome of the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), an endangered species in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.

Fungus drives species extinctions

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a fungus that infects the skin of amphibians. Since its discovery just over two decades ago, Bd has emerged as a global threat to amphibians. This pathogen has affected hundreds of species and driven massive population declines, including 90 presumed species extinctions鈥攔epresenting the greatest known disease-induced biodiversity loss. The mountain yellow-legged frog is one such species threatened by Bd.

“Many populations of these frogs have been wiped out by Bd infection, and the fate of remaining populations will depend largely on their ability to survive despite the presence of the pathogen,” said Jani.

Attempts to protect frogs

Jani’s collaborators have been testing immunization as a method to protect these frogs. Frogs are taken into captivity, deliberately infected with the pathogen, and then cleared of their infections using antifungal drugs, in an attempt to train their immune systems to recognize and fight the pathogen. The frogs are then released back to the wild.

During one of these trials, Jani and her collaborators sampled the skin microbiomes of the frogs before they were exposed to the pathogen, after they were infected, and again after they had been cleared of infection. She then used genetic sequencing technologies to identify the bacteria present.

“We found that Bd infection disturbed the frog microbiome by altering the relative abundances of core bacterial species, just as we had observed in previous research,” said Jani. “But surprisingly, when the frogs were cleared of their infections, their microbiomes did not recover. In other words, removing the cause of the microbiome disturbance was not enough to bring about recovery from the disturbance.”

With a wide variety of microbiome research being conducted in Hawaiʻi, the connects microbiome scientists, including Jani, across the islands, furthering collaboration and facilitating new discoveries related to environmental and human health.

This research is an example of 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

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–By Marcie Grabowski

The natural and human “landscape” of Hawaiʻi offers opportunities for the development of Earth鈥檚 microbiome research that exists nowhere else on the planet. As such, the University of Hawaiʻi is well positioned to make transformative contributions to this field of microbial research through a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grants.

The COBRE technical are housed in 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 Life Sciences Building (LSB), with project leaders in LSB as well as spread across the campus. The aim is to develop the tools to understand the interface between human and environmental health, with a focus on the microbial forces shaping these dimensions of the biosphere.

A video highlighting 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 COBRE research projects is .

Each COBRE grant develops a series of cores that are expected to establish and become sustainable for the university where they are created. Within the last 10 years, 东精影业 has hired more than 20 academics into the junior tenure-track ranks whose research concentration is on environmental microbiomes, wherever they may occur (human body, plant roots, water, soil, insects, other animals, etc).

“We have three cores—a microscopy core, an insectary and a molecular biology/biochemistry core that function in parallel to provide the platform for the building of competitive research programs, not only for the above-mentioned junior faculty, but for all 东精影业 researchers who might want to become involved with this arena,” said Margaret McFall-Ngai, professor at 东精影业 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 (PRBC). She and Ned Ruby, also in PRBC, are the COBRE principal investigators.

“The center has every opportunity for being a mecca for researchers from across the nation and around the world.”

The approaches are highly diverse—from engineering and chemistry to the study of model systems. With the construction of LSB, these cores have found a new and permanent home. This has given the center the “wings” needed to perform at the highest possible levels of science.

“The COBRE is a gift to 东精影业. It is the opportunity to create an active center for the study of the dynamic relationship between Earth鈥檚 microbiomes and human health,” said McFall-Ngai. “This gift will not only benefit researchers at 东精影业, but the center has every opportunity for being a mecca for researchers from across the nation and around the world.”

Nearly every organism hosts a collection of symbiotic microbes—a microbiome. It is now recognized that microbiomes are major drivers of health in all animals, including humans, and that these symbiotic systems often exhibit strong daily rhythms.

New research led by scientists revealed that, in the mutually beneficial relationship between with the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, and the luminescent bacterium, Vibrio fischeri, an immune protein called “macrophage migration inhibitory factor” or “MIF,” is the maestro of daily rhythms.

This finding, , could provide important clues on factors affecting human microbiome rhythms, as the MIF protein is also found in abundance in mammalian symbiotic tissues.

To survive, the nocturnal Hawaiian bobtail squid depends on V. fischeri, which gives it the ability to mimic moonlight on the surface of the ocean and deceive monk seals and other predators, as it forages for food. The symbiotic bacteria also require nutrition, especially at night when they are more numerous and their light is required for the squid鈥檚 camouflage.

The research team, led by Eric Koch, who was a graduate researcher at the (PBRC) in the 东精影业 Mānoa (SOEST) at the time of the study, determined the squid regulates production of MIF as a way to control the movement of specialized immune cells, called hemocytes, which provide chitin for bacteria to feed on.

At night, when the team found MIF was low in the squid鈥檚 light organ, hemocytes were allowed into the regions where the bacteria reside and chitin was delivered. During the day, MIF was very high, which inhibits the hemocytes from entering the symbiotic tissues and dumping their chitin at the wrong time.

This cycling of nutrients has cascading effects on all of the other rhythms associated with the symbiotic system—perhaps affecting overall health, development or reproduction.

• Related 东精影业 News story: Glowing bacteria in Hawaiian bobtail squid cause changes throughout host, March 5, 2019

Characterizing animal microbiomes

For nearly three decades, PBRC professors Margaret McFall-Ngai and Edward Ruby have used the squid鈥揵acterial symbiosis system to characterize animal microbiomes. The PRBC labs are located in the Kewalo Marine Laboratory.

“We had recognized daily rhythms in the squid-vibrio symbiosis since 1996, but how the rhythm is controlled was not known,” said McFall-Ngai. “This study brought the whole thing into sharp focus, allowing us to understand how the rhythm works and how it matures in the animal.”

Such discoveries can pave the way for understanding how microbiomes function—what they do and how they do it—in other organisms and environments.

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–By Marcie Grabowski

Though corals worldwide are threatened due to climate change and local stressors, the front lines of the battle are microscopic in scale. Under stress, many reefs that were formerly dominated by coral are shifting to systems dominated by turf and fleshy algae.

A , led by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and San Diego State University, found that the outcome of the competition between coral and turf algae is determined by the assemblage of microbes at the interface where the contenders meet.

All plants and animals are associated with communities of viruses and microbes—their microbiome—that interact via a suite of chemicals produced by their metabolism, termed metabolites. The study investigated the role of each component, host organisms, viruses, bacteria and metabolites, in coral-turf algal interactions.

The researchers gathered data on genes, proteins and metabolic products associated with corals and algae on a reef and directly looked at the bacteria and viruses under a microscope.

“We found that when coral interacts with turf algae on a reef, there is a unique chemical and bacterial community that forms at the interface between these two organisms, an emergent microbiome,” said Ty Roach, postdoctoral researcher at the in the 东精影业 Mānoa (SOEST) and co-lead author of the study. “This interface community is made up of larger bacterial cells that use energy at a faster rate. Our data suggest that this change in bacterial size and energy use, which can negatively affect coral, is driven by a change in which types of bacteria dominate the microbiome.”

“Our chemical analysis indicates this change is driven by bacteria that feed on algal-derived biochemicals, a phenomenon we call the Algal Feeding Hypothesis,” said co-lead author Mark Little, a doctoral candidate at San Diego State University. “Interestingly, these changes in bacterial groups and their energy use, which comes from feeding on specific chemicals, are similar to changes seen in the human gut, with dominant bacteria linked to obesity.”

Coral reefs are valued for their cultural and ecological importance, providing protection against storms and waves, and serve as reservoirs of biodiversity. Restoring coral cover and building reef resilience provides the foundation essential to a functional and healthy reef ecosystem, which is critical for the surrounding community.

For more information see .

—By Marcie Grabowski

The University of Hawaiʻi has joined dozens of academic centers around the country to form the (MCC) to advance microbiome science鈥攖he study of assemblages of microbes in the environment and in symbiosis with humans, animals and plants. This field of research stands at the forefront of a renaissance in biology, as microbiomes are increasingly recognized as being crucial to the functioning of ecosystems, ranging from the deep sea to the human body.

Two researchers with the 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 , Professor Margaret McFall-Ngai and Associate Professor Nicole Hynson, recently co-authored a publication in announcing the consortium and its goals for advancing the far-reaching field of microbiome research.

In the U.S. this field has been recognized at the federal level via the 2016 National Microbiome Initiative, and 东精影业 has been a leader in this field for years.

In forming the MCC, the centers will share best practices about their broad range of activities, reduce redundancy in their workloads, coordinate efforts to advocate for the field, and advise policymakers. The collective will also provide related training, education and outreach.

• Learn more about 东精影业鈥檚 work in microbiome research.

An integrated network

Perhaps most importantly, an integrated network can provide a platform for the major work ahead for microbiome research. Regardless of the system (for example, host-associated or environmental), the big questions in microbiome science are similar: What role do microbiomes play in system health and resilience? Can we alter microbiomes to improve environmental and human health, and develop more sustainable biotechnology and resilient agriculture? To answer these questions, the field must uncover fundamental principles of microbiomes that will not be apparent by studying one system at a time. Addressing these challenges will require sharing knowledge, expertise and ideas widely among scientists and non-scientists alike, and across borders.

“By coordinating the efforts of individual microbiome centers we are positioning the field of microbiome science to make large strides toward advancing our understanding of the role of microbes in the health of humans and our planet,” said Hynson.

Related community event

东精影业 will host renowned microbiologist Lita Proctor, inaugural coordinator of the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 $200 million Human Microbiome Project. She will present The Microbes Song: The New Field of Microbe Science in a free public lecture on Thursday, January 23, 6:30鈥�8 p.m. at the 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Art building auditorium.

Proctor will speak on microbiome science writ large, explaining how new research is transforming our understanding of ecosystems, evolution and human health.

For more information, visit the website.

—By Marcie Grabowski

The Hawaiʻi Data Science Institute at the University of Hawaiʻi was awarded $1 million by the National Science Foundation鈥檚 Major Research Instrumentation Program that will allow the university to acquire and deploy a new community computer cluster in support of computational and data-intensive research for the 10-campus system.

“This award brings together some of 东精影业鈥檚 greatest strengths and important new initiatives, leveraging several investments and strategic decisions made over the past several years to help our faculty and students apply modern computational and visualization approaches to answer questions about the world around us,” said 东精影业 President David Lassner. “Housed in our sustainable new data center in the Information Technology Building, this state-of-the-art high-performance computing system will support some of our major new initiatives including our work to understand our water systems in Hawaiʻi, our study of the microbiome of our environment, and our new multi-disciplinary data science institute.”

The three initiatives 鈥檚 ʻIke Wai project, the and the all conduct work with advanced computational needs that will benefit from the new computing cluster.

“The High-Performance Computing cluster will support and elevate the leading-edge work of our faculty and students across campus,” said 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Provost Michael Bruno. “The fact that both faculty and students will have access to this free, shared resource is truly exciting and transformational.”

New computing cluster

The new cluster, named Mana, will add graphics processing unit (GPU) nodes for intensive computing among other upgrades to the 东精影业 high-performance computing (HPC) cluster and support 15 early career, pre-tenure faculty with research programs in data science.

东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Information and Computer Sciences Assistant Professor Peter Sadowski explained how modern artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning require GPU machines. “My research focuses on AI and machine learning for data science applications in precision health, oceanography, high-energy physics and astronomy,” Sadowski said. “The 东精影业 HPC is crucial to my work. It enables members of my group to routinely train deep neural networks on 50 GPUs simultaneously. This would be significantly more difficult and expensive on a commercial cloud service or a government supercomputer.”

Professor Jason Leigh, principal investigator of Mana, spoke of HPC鈥檚 importance for the future, “Mana will provide us with much needed computing power to realize the next-generation of artificial intelligence-enhanced data visualization, analysis and collaboration tools for accelerating research, development and workforce training, even in fields as diverse as cyber-security and creative media.”

“We are very excited to receive this award which recognizes the research excellence of all our faculty at 东精影业 and most importantly the enormous research potential of our new investigators,” said Gwen Jacobs, principle investigator and 东精影业 director of cyberinfrastructure. “Our long-term goal within the Hawaiʻi Data Science Institute is to provide leading-edge computational and data resources to insure that our new investigators will thrive at 东精影业.”

The buzz over a recent $10.4-million grant to five junior researchers at the is about much more than mosquitoes.

The funds from the (COBRE) support the first center focusing on the interface between environmental microbiomes and human health.

Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms that live on and in people, animals, plants, soil, oceans and the atmosphere.

“The paradigm that this center grant operates under is essentially that human health is inextricably linked to the environment. And the specific hypothesis that the investigators in the center pursue are formed by this idea that microbes, microorganisms mediate this relationship,” said Assistant Professor Matthew Medeiros.

Medeiros is one of a diverse group of junior researchers, who put a herculean effort into securing the prestigious five-year grant. Those scientists and their projects include:

• Kiana Frank, assistant professor, (PBRC), who is evaluating how land use patterns and environmental factors influence the diversity, abundance, virulence and persistence of waterborne microbial threats to Hawaiian watersheds.
• Matthew Medeiros, PBRC assistant professor, who is looking at how microbes colonize mosquitoes in nature and how this pattern of colonization might impact disease transmission.
• Floyd Reed, associate professor, , who is investigating the effect of the mosquito鈥檚 normal microbiota on its carriage of Wolbachia, and the ability of this bacterium to curb the carriage of human pathogens by the mosquito.
• Joanne Yew, PBRC assistant professor, who is using the powerful genetic model Drosophila (small fruit flies) to study the interplay between genetics and the environment.
• Masato Yoshizawa, assistant professor, Department of Biology, who is researching how microbiomes influence autism behavior.

Many of the COBRE researchers and their students are addressing two critical and intertwined health problems: the deteriorating environment and the current spread of diseases.

Outreach to the Native Hawaiian community is a significant part of the COBRE grant. Every manuscript resulting from this grant will be accompanied by a 2–3 minute video in both English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi about the research conclusion and why it is important to the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community.

“As a Native Hawaiian, for me, this grant is super exciting, because it totally aligns with my traditional ideals of management from mauka to makai, and assessing all the different layers of management and how that influences the whole system from microbes all the way up to people,” said Frank.

It is hoped that the COBRE research projects will help to inform public health policy in Hawaiʻi and beyond for years to come.

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

The has awarded $1 million to support a groundbreaking University of Hawaiʻi project that establishes the Waimea watershed on the north shore of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi as a model microbiome mesocosm—that is, a study site small enough to thoroughly investigate but large enough to reveal the complexities of natural systems. This is the first time an entire watershed, ridge to reef, has been studied to map its microbial communities and their ecosystem processes.

“The W.M. Keck Foundation is noted for rewarding cutting edge, high-risk high-reward science that often can鈥檛 be funded by federal agencies which can be more risk averse,” 东精影业 President and Interim 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Chancellor David Lassner said. “This award recognizes the capacity 东精影业 has built in the microbiome sphere with world class researchers. Thanks to the immense technological innovations in DNA sequencing and this award, some of our best interdisciplinary scholars can shine a bright floodlight on the previously hidden world of microbes and its fundamental role in shaping healthy ecosystems.”

Led by Margaret McFall-Ngai, director of the , the Keck award supports the work of a cross-disciplinary team of 东精影业 researchers, Anthony Amend, Nicole Hynson, Camilo Mora, Craig Nelson and Joanne Yew.

The importance of the microbial world

In the last 10 years, the field of biology has undergone a revolution with the recognition that the microbial world is critical to all aspects of human and environmental health. Multicellular organisms rely upon microbial partners (now estimated at as many as 1 trillion species) to metabolize food, fight off disease, and to run the machinery that sustains the air we breathe, the water we drink and soil under our feet.

“Advancing our understanding of the microbial world will allow us to harness the power of the diverse microbes that represent an untapped natural resource whose potential contributions to health, food production and habitat restoration constitute the greatest opportunity for biological sciences in decades,” said McFall-Ngai. “With ecosystems and the life they support imperiled worldwide, it is critical that we quickly improve our understanding of the dynamics of our planet驶s microbial foundation.”

Nicole Hynson, associate professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 and member of the team receiving the Keck award, said, “Together, we seek to illuminate the diversity and function of microbes within Hawaiian ecosystems to examine whether their roles are conserved across hosts and environments and the extent to which disturbances alter the functioning of microbially-mediated processes.”

Due to its high ecological diversity across tractable areas of land and sea, Hawaiʻi provides a model system for the study of complex microbial communities and the processes they mediate. With more than a dozen microbial researchers, led by three members of the National Academy of Sciences, including McFall-Ngai, 东精影业 is a veritable microbiome powerhouse. WMKF supported work is further complemented by the work of 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 Center for Microbiome Analysis through Island Knowledge and Investigation, a consortium of early career faculty at 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 spanning the fields of ecology, geoscience, mathematics, molecular biology to engineering and biomedicine exploring the critical role microbiomes play.

This is the second award from the W.M. Keck Foundation in the last year.

See more images in the 东精影业 Foundation flickr albums: and .

, professor and director of the (PBRC) in the at the , has been selected to receive a MERIT award of more than $5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

MERIT or Method to Extend Research In Time awards have been offered since 1986 to “distinctly superior” investigators who have demonstrated high levels of competence and productivity in previous research efforts and “who are highly likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner.” The awards, which can be extended for up to 10 years via a non-competitive renewal process after the first five years, are designed to give scientists long-term support, without the burden of constantly devoting time and staff resources to applying for new grants to fund their research.

For nearly three decades, McFall-Ngai and PBRC Researcher have used the Hawaiian bobtail squid and its single bacterial symbiont, Vibrio fischeri, as a model biological system to characterize animal microbiomes. They have investigated the process by which an appropriate symbiont species is recruited into a host animal’s microbiome at the exclusion of all other bacteria, and discovered bacteria affecting animal development and bacterial partners driving circadian (daily) rhythms of their host.

“With this new award, Ned, who is the co-investigator on the grant, and I will continue to use marine animals to define the ‘rules’ that govern the molecular and biochemical ‘conversation’ that mediates the establishment and maintenance of an animal symbiosis with gram-negative bacteria (a classification of bacteria that can cause many types of infections),” said McFall-Ngai.

Award-winning investigation of bacteria

Humans, as with all other animals, have many symbiotic, or friendly, bacteria living inside and on our bodies. These associations typically involve trillions of bacteria.

“Deciphering the molecular language between the host-symbiont partners is very challenging,” said McFall-Ngai. “The marine animal with which we work has a binary association, that is, one bacterial species living with a single host animal. As such, it’s like dropping into a conversation with two people, rather than dropping into a celebration that has millions of people.”

Since bacteria have been driving animal biology since the origin of animals, it is not surprising that the basis of interactions of animals with bacteria is conserved across the evolutionary trajectory of animals, making this research relevant to human biology, as well.

McFall-Ngai and Ruby were the first to show that bacteria can drive animal development and they do so by signaling with their surface molecules. A few years later mammalian biologists built on this finding to determine that gram-negative bacteria drive maturation of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, using the exact same bacterial molecules.

“Our goal is to define the basic cell, biochemical and molecular underpinnings and provide insights for human biologists,” said McFall-Ngai.

More on MERIT awards

MERIT awardees are nominated by the funding NIH institute from a large pool of competing award recipients and then endorsed by an institutes’ advisory council. Less than 5 percent of NIH-funded investigators are selected to receive MERIT awards.

• More about McFall-Ngai: Microbiology expert wins $1M, plans to transform biology education,
  December 13, 2017
• 东精影业鈥檚 only female NAS member reveals how animals select good microbes, August 28, 2017
• Native squid and its bacterium may help human and environmental health, February 5, 2017

“This prestigious MERIT award is NIH‘s acknowledgement of research excellence being sustained by Margaret and Ned over the years. It is one of the highest forms of recognition by a federal funding agency,” said School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology Dean .

“There is something wonderful about not having to stress over a renewal in 5 years,” said McFall-Ngai. “As long as we are as productive as we have been, the grant will continue without having to submit a competitive renewal. We have been contributing all of our careers to this area and we are gratified that NIH has recognized our work in this way.”

McFall-Ngai’s award will run until January 31, 2028.

—By Marcie Grabowski