RESEARCHER BIOS
Dr. Amy Wright - Principal Investigator - DBMR Division Director, HBOI
Dr. Shirley Pomponi - Co-Principal Investigator - Vice President, HBOI
John Reed - Chief Scientist / Co-Principal Investigator - DBMR, HBOI
Kathleen Janda - Microbiology - DBMR, HBOI
Tara Pitts - Microbiology - DBMR, HBOI
Gail Samples - Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Jane Thompson - Molecular Biology - DBMR, HBOI
Priscilla Winder - Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Andrew Lamm - Post Doc / Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Brain Cousin - Video Production Specialist, Media Lab, HBOI
Amy E. Wright, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Biomedical Marine Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Inst.
For the past 23 years, Dr. Wright has conducted research in the field of natural products chemistry.
She earned her doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the University for Califronia, Riverside working
under the direction of Dr. James Sims. Currently she is the Director of the Division of Biomedical
Marine Research and the Head of the Natural Products Chemistry group. Her research program focuses
on the exploration of deep water organisms as the source of novel marine natural products. Current
research projects emphasize drug discovery, evaluation of the ecological role of marine natural products;
applications of natural products chemistry to systematics of the Porifera and deep water Gorgonacea;
development of micro-analytical methods for monitoring aqua and cell cultures used in the production
of therapeutically important marine natural products; studies on the role of microbial associates in
the production of therapeutically interesting natural products; and identification of the gene clusters
responsible for polyketide synthesis and use of the same in recombinant production of natural and
"un-natural" natural productions.
Shirley A. Pomponi, Ph.D.
Vice President and Director of Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Principal Investigator, New Pharmacological Resources Project
Shirley Pomponi is one of the 3 co-principal investigators of the Islands in the Stream 2002
Expedition for Discovery of New Resources with Pharmaceutical Potential. She has led numerous
research expeditions to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean, and to the Galapagos
Islands, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Seychelles, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands,
Cape Verde, and Lake Baikal, Russia. Her research interests are on the systematics and
cell biology of marine sponges, one of the primary sources of chemicals with pharmaceutical
potential. A major emphasis of her research is on the development of cell culture methods
for sustainable use of marine resources for drug discovery and development. Dr. Pomponi is
a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the
National Research Council's Committee on Exploration of the Seas. She grew up in southern
New Jersey, received her bachelor's degree in biology from the College of St. Elizabeth,
and received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Miami,
RSMAS. She has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications in marine biotechnology,
biodiversity, cell and molecular biology, systematics and natural products chemistry.
John K. Reed
Senior Research Specialist
Division of Biomedical Marine Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Co-Principal Investigator, New Pharmacological Resources Project
John Reed is one of 3 co-principal investigators of the Islands in the Stream 2002 Expedition
for Discovery of New Resources with Pharmaceutical Potential. Mr. John Reed is Department Head
of the Sample Acquisition and Taxonomy Program at DBMR for biomedical research to discover
pharmaceutically active compounds from marine organisms. Mr. Reed is Chief Scientist for DBMR
in charge of supervising and organizing >60 worldwide collection expeditions for biomedical
research with HBOI's research vessels, submersibles, and land-based expeditions. He is responsible
for curating 30,000 specimens of marine organisms in DBMR's taxonomic museum collection and
managing the collection database, photographic library, and videotape library. Mr Reed is also
the Diving Safety Officer for all diving activities from Harbor Branch vessels and by a staff
of 60 research divers. He has logged 35 deep-water lockout dives with helium-oxygen from
Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles, logged >2000 scientific scuba dives, and >150 scientific dives
in the Johnson-Sea-Link and Clelia submersibles. Mr. Reed's research on the deep-water Oculina
coral banks off Florida since 1976 has resulted in over 45 publications and the establishment
of a 300 sq.mi. Marine Protected Area for these reefs. Mr. Reed received his B.S. from the
University of Miami and M.S. specializing in marine ecology from Florida Atlantic University
in 1975.
Kathleen E. Janda
Research Specialist - Microbiology
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Kathleen Janda is a Research Specialist in the Fermentation Group of the Division Biomedical
Marine Research. Kathleen received her B.A. from Canisius College, Buffalo, New York and has
a Masters degree from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. Kathleen has been with
BMR for 18 years participating in over 30 collection expeditions both on HBOI's Research vessels
and land-based operations. She has made over 300 collecting dives on these expeditions and
is rated to dive to 150 feet. Since joining HBOI she has completed the science diving requirements
and is a certified PADI Rescue Diver. When on the expeditions, Kathleen is responsible for
the microbiology component of the collections, isolating the microorganisms from the sponges,
sediment, and water samples taken in hopes that a microorganism is producing the active component
responsible for the activity in the many bioassays. DBMR has a culture collection with over
16,000 microorganisms that have been isolated during the past 20 years. Once back in the HBOI
Fermentation Lab, these microbes are fermented, extracted, and tested in the bioassays for
biomedical activity.
Tara Pitts
Research Specialist
Division of Biomedical Marine Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Tara Pitts has worked in DBMR for over 15 years. She has participated in many research expeditions with HBOI's ships
and submersibles. Tara got her BS in marine biology from Florida Tech in Melbourne, Florida. She also has received
an AS in Medical Laboratory Technology from Indian River Community College. Tara started working with DBMR in the
microbiology group and now works in the biological screening group. She tests our sample extracts for any type of
biological activity. The majority of our testing these days is on cancer cells. Tara also works on mechanism of
action studies of the active pure compounds that are isolated through biologically guided purification. On this
expedition Tara will be focusing on helping the microbiology group with their isolations as well as helping in
the daily processing of the collected samples.
Jane H. Thompson
Research Assistant III
Division of Biomedical Marine Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Jane Thompson joined the Harbor Branch Division of Biomedical Marine Research in 2000. Jane has
worked in biomedical research as a molecular biologist for 19 years, in New Orleans, New York and
now in Florida. Her research has investigated gene expression of in vivo and in vitro models of
inflammation with special emphasis on nitric oxide synthase. Using similar models, Jane has looked
at the effects of the herbal extracts from Uncaria tomentosa and Croton lechleri. She has worked
with Dr. Craig Cohen to develop an ELISA assay for HIV and with Dr. Mark Bielke to develop a quantitative
test for viral load in HIV infected patients. With other researchers, she has worked on models of
corneal wound healing and mapped the gene for muscle glycogen phosphorylase. For a short time, Jane
was Laboratory Director in a DNA paternity lab. Her current work with marine sponges is the most
interesting and challenging work of her career. Jane has 14 publications in peer review journals and
one book chapter. She received her B.S. from Florida Atlantic University and has done graduate work
at Louisiana State Medical School.
Brian Cousin
Video Production Specialist
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Since 1993, Brian Cousin has been Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution's video
production specialist. He has documented leading-edge scientific research and development
at the institution and on various missions to the Bahamas, the Galapagos archipelago,
the Gulf of Maine and Mexico. While his name is rarely seen in the credits, Brian's video
footage has been included in television documentaries produced around the world.
In addition, Brian has produced award winning video programming for Harbor Branch,
including a 26-minute program entitled "Marine Bioluminescence: Secret Lights in the Sea".
Produced in collaboration with Harbor Branch's Dr. Edith Widder, the video provides an
excellent background on the phenomenon of marine bioluminescence, and features previously
unseen footage captured by Dr. Widder and her colleagues across the country. Brian is a
certified Harbor Branch scuba diver and a member of the American Academy of Underwater
Sciences. His diving experience ranges from cave-diving - perhaps the ultimate in
confined-space diving - to blue water diving - essentially open-ocean diving in a referenceless
enviornment, often likened to space walking. On this mission Brian will be the at-sea web
coordinator and videographer providing still and video images to the NOAA OE web site.
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