MARINE/FRESHWATER BIOMEDICAL CENTER GRANT

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The Duke University Marine Biomedical Center promotes and integrates multidisciplinary research on aquatic organisms with a focus on environmental health problems. Ongoing programs of the Center illustrate how the great diversity among marine organisms can be used to an advantage in sorting out the fundamental mechanisms which underlie molecular, cellular and organismic behavior in normal and pathological states. Continued support for the Duke University Marine Biomedical Center is requested to allow for further productive interactions between established investigators having experience in various aspects of medical and marine sciences. The Administrative Core Unit of the Marine Biomedical Center stimulates research and information exchange concerning problems in the marine sciences that are related to environmental health. Strong ties with the Duke University Medical Center facilitate the transfer of research findings of the Center to the medical community. The Administrative Unit also coordinates lectures, meetings, a Visiting Scholar Program and publishes a bimonthly newsletter, ENVIRONS. The Facilities and Services Unit makes available to participants and associates of the Center a number of laboratory services and special equipment items capable of analyzing pollutant concentrations and effects. The participants in the Research Unit of the Center make use of marine organisms in studies which have high potential for clarification of fundamental processes which may be sensitive to environmental stress. Ongoing programs include studies concerning: 1) the effects of chemical pollutants on respiratory proteins and electron transport proteins, 2) the effects of metal and non-metal pollutants on larval development of various invertebrates, 3) pollutant toxicology using blood as a model organ, 4) behavioral aspects of pollution in estuarine and marine systems, 5) the effect of metal and non-metal pollutants on transport processes, 6) pollutant effects on gene activation and embryological development, and 7) mechanisms of trace metal detoxification in marine organisms. The Research Unit funds feasibility studies to extend and integrate these ongoing research programs.