The establishment of a national network of Oceans and Human Health (OHH) centers five years ago created an opportunity for the University of Miami to consolidate and redirect its ongoing collaborations between the Medical School (Miller School of Medicine) and the Marine School (Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, RSMAS). Focusing research efforts on issues of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and microbial pollution of recreational marine waters, the University of Miami strategy has been to build upon existing cooperative efforts and seek out new researchers, blending strengths from those activities in oceanography and biomedical sciences.
In the course of the last five years, we have expanded the original breadth of our Oceans and Human Health Center substantially through leveraged funding and involving new researchers. In particular, in the area of microbial pollution, we have performed human health and exposure studies with predictive mathematical modeling in the microbe component and added methacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas to the microbe component; and in the area of HABs, we have demonstrated that the neurotoxic amino acid, beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), may be an important toxin in the food web, and we have developed diagnostic and prognostic modeling showing a new source for Florida red tide blooms.
With funding from this Accomplishment-based Renewal, research at the University of Miami OHH Center over the next two years will build and expand on two important ongoing areas of Center research: 1) the modeling of the transport of microbes from the shoreline of a nonpoint source beach within a sub/tropical environment as well as pathogen behavior in this beach and near-shore environment; and 2) further exploration of HAB organisms and their toxins in the marine food chain, focusing on the water soluble neurotoxin, BMAA, associated with blue green algae (cyanobacteria) and the lipophilic neurotoxin, brevetoxin, associated with the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis.
Broader Impacts: Research for the next two years of the UM OHH Center will provide: a) a real-time predictive modeling tool for water quality conditions at beach sites as well as important data on pathogens and sand; b) the exploration of the extent of toxin transfer within the marine food chain of two important but different HAB toxins. These research activities will be supported by training and outreach in oceans and human health. Graduate students will be supported in both research projects. There will be an OHH Program to provide undergraduates with the opportunity to work with the Research Projects and their investigators. Opportunities will also be made available for OHH Center investigators and students to travel nationally and internationally to present the results of their OHH research and interact with the other OHH Centers in scientific conferences (including participation in the Second OHH Gordon Research Conference and Graduate Research Seminar in June 2010), as well as interact with visiting OHH Scientists sponsored by the Center. The Center will continue to support the 24/7, 365 day/yr toll-free Aquatic Toxins Hotline (888-232-8635) at the Florida Poison Information Center to provide information on harmful algal bloom exposures and health effects to healthcare providers, patients and the general public, as well as expand the uses and dissemination of the Center Website (www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/ohh/). Finally, the Center researchers are involved in expanding and disseminating an ongoing graduate and upper level undergraduate course in Oceans and Human Health, and the development of a new Textbook on the Socio-Economic Impacts and Human Wellbeing in Oceans and Human Health.
The University of Miami Oceans and Human Health (OHH) Center has facilitated the establishment of OHH as a discipline through the development of textbooks, courses, conferences, internet resources, and research documents that address the inter-relationships between human health and the physical, chemical, and microbial characteristics of the coastline.Research conducted through this Center focused on two main topic areas, microbial pollution and harmful algal blooms. Research focused on microbial pollution has established that diffuse sources of bacteria that originate from humans, birds, and other animals, contribute to the bacterial load of coastal waters through the periodic washing of the shoreline sand through tides and wave action. These releases were simulated for the first time using mathematical models. This wash-in of bacteria from the beach shore was, also for the first time, shown to be of human health significance as illustrated by epidemiologic studies conducted through the Center and the fact that the bacteria that was released from the sand also tracked disease-causing microbes including methicillin-resistent S. aureus. The research focused on harmful algal blooms evaluated a toxin forming algae known as Karenia brevis and also evaluated the bioaccumulation of beta-methylamino alanine (BMAA), a chemical believed to be potentially linked with neurologic disorders in humans. Through this Center we have developed species specific probes for Karenia brevis and other species of dinoflagellates. We have found cysts of Karenia brevis in the sediments of the West Florida Shelf, causing a rethinking of how blooms get started, and the relationship between HABs and benthic ecology. We are also reevaluating the relationship between blooms and physical oceanography from the perspective of limited mixing units in the ocean known as Lagrangian Coherent Structures. We have reviewed the ecology of Karenia brevis relative to other species of Karenia around the world. We have documented the presence of BMAA in a variety of animals in Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay, Caloosahatchee River, and Indian River Lagoon, indicating that it may be a significant human health hazard. Overall results from this Center can be used by policy-makers to improve coastal water quality and improve the health of those who frequent beaches and depend upon coastal ocean resources.
