New Drugs from Marine Natural Resources--Jamaican Reefs

描述（由申请人提供）：此规划奖助金是在2005年ICBG全面努力的预期中提交的。该综合方案的目标是：1)从牙买加珊瑚礁中发现海洋天然产品，作为开发癌症和传染病新疗法的原型；2)开发与生态因素有关的生物和化学数据，以支持保护/恢复工作；3)促进牙买加的可持续经济发展和科学/技术丰富。这一战略将依赖于协调一致的多学科、多机构的研究工作，包括三个联合项目，一个行政核心和一个生物测试核心。最近对海洋天然产物的研究表明，珊瑚礁是生物和化学多样性的最大资源之一。牙买加是加勒比地区许多重要珊瑚礁生物的生物多样性热点，包括藻类和海绵，它们传统上产生了最大的海洋自然产品多样性/生物活性。虽然牙买加的珊瑚礁受到相互竞争的人为利益（例如渔业、旅游业、沿海开发）的影响，但它们正在恢复，与icbg有关的保护工作将进一步刺激这些重要珊瑚礁系统的再生。一个成功的ICBG申请将需要密西西比大学和东道国合作者之间的谅解备忘录和MTA，与政府机构的收集协议，以及当地利益相关者的事先知情同意。因此，这一规划赠款的目的是巩固适当的伙伴关系和协议，制定一个操作框架和详细的研究计划，并产生初步的生物多样性/生态调查数据，这是在ICBG计划的综合核心领域取得成功所必需的。我们的ICBG团队在生物多样性评估、海洋生态学和海洋养殖、海洋微生物学、海洋天然产物分离/结构阐明、生物测定开发、技术转让/知识产权问题以及社会科学调查的设计/分析方面拥有专业知识。这些个人致力于向东道国利益攸关方提供有意义的培训和技术转让，以支持短期和长期的共同利益。值得注意的是，该ICBG计划认识到热带海洋资源的潜在脆弱性，并因此纳入了开发可持续资源实践的机制（包括海水养殖、微生物培养和防御诱导），以收获重要的生物医学和/或生物技术产品。这项规划赠款将促进牙买加和美国科学家对人类健康问题、生物多样性保护、海洋自然资源利用和生物医学/生物技术培训的认识，为东道国利益攸关方合作支持社会经济机会和人类/环境健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This planning grant is submitted in anticipation of a comprehensive ICBG effort in 2005. The comprehensive program aims are: 1) to discover marine natural products from Jamaican reefs as prototypes for the development of new therapies for cancer and infectious diseases, 2) to develop biological and chemical data relative to ecological factors in support of conservation/restoration efforts, and 3) to contribute to sustainable economic development and scientific/technological enrichment in Jamaica. This strategy will rely on a concerted multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research effort of three associate programs, an administrative core, and a biological-testing core. Recent studies of marine natural products indicate that coral reefs represent one of the greatest resources for bio-, and chemo-diversity. Jamaica represents a biodiversity hotspot of many important coral reef organisms in the Caribbean, including algae and sponges, which have traditionally produced the greatest marine natural product diversity/bioactivity. While Jamaican reefs have been impacted by competing anthropogenic interests (e.g., fisheries, tourism, coastal development), they are recovering and ICBG-related conservation efforts will further spur the regeneration of these important coral reef systems. A successful ICBG application will require MOU's and MTA's between the University of Mississippi and the host country collaborator(s), a collection agreement with the cognizant government agency, and prior informed consent of local stakeholders. Thus, the aim of this planning grant is to consolidate appropriate partnerships and agreements, develop an operating framework and a detailed research plan, and generate preliminary biodiversity/ecological survey data requisite for success in the integrated core areas of the ICBG program. Our ICBG team includes expertise in biodiversity assessments, marine ecology & mariculture, marine microbiology, marine natural products isolation/structure elucidation, bioassay development, technology transfer/IP issues, and the design/analysis of social science surveys. These individuals are committed to providing meaningful transfer of training and technology to host country stakeholders in support of short- and long-term shared benefits. Significantly, this ICBG program recognizes the potential fragility of tropical marine resources and has thus incorporated mechanisms to develop sustainable resource practices (including mariculture, microbe culture, and defense induction) for harvesting important biomedical and/or biotechnological products. This planning grant will promote awareness of human health issues, biodiversity conservation, marine natural resource utilization, and biomedical/biotechnological training to Jamaican, and US, scientists collaborating in support of socioeconomic opportunities and human/environmental health for host country stakeholders.