RESEARCHER BIOS
Amy Wright - Principal Investigator - DBMR Division Director, HBOI
Shirley Pomponi - Co-Principal Investigator - President/CEO, HBOI
John Reed - Chief Scientist - DBMR, HBOI
Kathleen Janda - Microbiology - DBMR, HBOI
Tara Pitts - Screening Program - DBMR, HBOI
Susan Sennett - Screening Program - DBMR, HBOI
Gail Samples - Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Jill Roberts - Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Heather Baker - Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Daniela Vidulova - Chemistry - DBMR, HBOI
Jane Thompson - Molecular Biology - DBMR, HBOI
Jose Lopez - Molecular Biology - DBMR, HBOI
Anglea Ledger - Molecular Biology - DBMR, HBOI
Wolfram Bruck - Microbiology - DBMR, HBOI
Jacob Johnson - Cell Biology - DBMR, HBOI
Jay bottlesch - Cell Biology - DBMR, HBOI
Park Young Chul - PostDoc - DBMR, HBOI
Doug Weaver - Visiting Scientist, Research Biologist, NOAA
Mark Schrope - @Sea Correspondent - Media Lab, HBOI
Amy E. Wright, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Biomedical Marine Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
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.
President and CEO
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Principal Investigator, New Pharmacological Resources Project
Shirley Pomponi 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
New Pharmacological Resources Project
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 - Screening Program
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.
Susan Sennett
Cell Culture
Division of Biomedical Marine Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Susan Sennett is an assistant scientist in the Division of Biomedical Marine Research. She has been
involved in several aspects of the drug discovery program since joining the group in 1989. Her current
research focus in the Invertebrate Cell Culture group is directed towards the localization of production
of bioactive natural products in deep-water sponges and self-protection mechanisms in marine organisms
that produce bioactive compounds. In addition to her research interests, Dr. Sennett has been involved
in K-20 education and outreach in collaboration with programs in the Harbor Branch Marine Education Division.
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.
Jose Lopez, Ph.D.
Molecular Genetics Research
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Jose Lopez has an educational background in molecular evolutionary genetics, having earned
degrees from Georgia Tech, a Master of Science in molecular biology from Florida State University ,
and a Ph.D in molecular evolution from the George Mason University (Fairfax Va) with dissertation
research conducted at National Cancer Institute laboratories in Frederick Maryland. At HBOI, Dr. Lopez
currently conducts several molecular biology research projects involved in trying to solve the problem
of "supply" for pre-clinical development of interesting marine natural products. In an NSF-funded Biotic
Survey and Inventory, the task (with co-PI, Dr. Peter McCarthy) has been to use molecular tools to
identify the taxonomy (the "who's who?") of marine microbes, that may be the ultimate sources of many
bioactive marine compounds and symbiotically live within sponges and other invertebrates.
In collaboration with Dr. Russell Kerr at Florida Atlantic University, Dr Lopez and research assistant
Angela Ledger have apply modern molecular techniques to identify the gene sequences which may code for
the enzymes involved in marine compound biosynthesis, such as eleutherobin, a terpenoid with anti-cancer
activity derived from a Caribbean soft coral, Erythropodium caribaeorum. In another collaboration with
Dr. Kelly Rein's laboratory at Florida International University, genes coding for brevetoxin, a cause
for harmful algal blooms that plague some coastlines, are being pursued. Dr Lopez also assists HBOI's
Marine Mammal Conservation and Research Division with molecular genetic analyses and supervising FAU
graduate student studies of the Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphin population.
Angela Ledger
Research Assistant II - Molecular Genetics Research
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Angela works as a research assistant for Dr. Jose Lopez in the Biomedical Marine Research Division of Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute. One focus of her research is identifying unculturable microbes from sponge, water, and
sediment samples collected from the cruises. She received a B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of South
Florida in 2000, and began working for HBOI in 2002.
Wolfram M. Bruck, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow - Microbiology
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Wolfram is a Microbiologist and a Molecular Biologist originally from Cologne, Germany. After finishing his
undergraduate work in Minnesota, he earned his Masters degree in 1998 developing a novel PCR-ELISA for the diagnosis
of whooping chough at the University of Manchester Medical School (UK). In 2003, he finished his Ph.D. at the
University of Reading in southern England where he researched the modulation of the infant gut microflora. Wolfram
has been with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution since April 2003 where he mainly focuses on the microflora of
the marine sponge Discodermia and the occurrence of cyanobacteria in other deep-water sponges.
Jacob D. Johnson, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Research Investigator - Cell Biology Group
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Johnson is currently a post-doctoral research investigator in the Division of
Marine Biomedical Research (DBMR) at HBOI. As a member of the cell biology group,
he develops new cellular assays to determine the biomedical potential of metabolites
produced by marine organisms. He also determines the mechanism of action of DBMR compounds.
During his graduate studies, his research examined the clearance and recognition of dying cells
by phagocytes using various cell biological and immunological approaches. This is his first
research cruise, as a lucky hitchhiker, and he is excited to be involved in this discovery
process. His educational background includes a B.S. from Salem-Teikyo University, Salem, W.V.
and a Ph.D. degree from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, O.H.
James Bottesch, M.S.
Research Specialist - Invertebrate Cell Culture Group
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
J. Bottesch joined DBMR's Invertebrate Cell Culture group earlier this year. His work currently
entails methodologies for cryo-preservation and culturing cell lines from Axinella corrugata,
Xestospongia muta, and Niphates erecta. He is particularly interested in determining the effects of
exogenous perturbation upon the cell cycle of A. corrugata and X. muta and delineating genes which
seem to be upregulated or downregulated as a result. Previous work with PiPets, LLC entailed the
production of novel, transgenic ornamental fish in terms of coloration, pattern formation, growth,
and fertility, utilizing Danio rerio as a model. In his graduate work, he studied the effects of a
teratogen, tributyltin chloride, on early piscine embryogenesis. His educational background includes
a pair of BS's from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and an MS from the Florida Institute
of Technology. This will be his first long-awaited cruise, and he is excited about the potential of
numerous new discoveries.
Park Young Chul, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Investigator
Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR)
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Park is a post-doctoral investigator in the division of marine biomedical research. He is
currently studying bioactive chemical compounds from marine derived fungus. His research background
is based on the isolation of bioactive secondary metabolites from marine organisms and synthesis of
marine natural products. Dr. Park obtained his Ph. D. from the University of South Florida and his post-doctoral
fellowship from the Division of Biomedical Marine Research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in
2004.
Mark Schrope •
@Sea Correspondent / Science writer - Media Lab
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Mark Schrope is the science writer at Harbor Branch Oceanographic. Before coming to Harbor Branch Mark
worked full-time as a freelance writer and president of Open Water
Media, Inc. His articles have appeared in such publications as Nature, New Scientist, Popular Science, and Outside.
He received a BS in Biology from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and an MS from Florida State
University in Chemical Oceanography, before working for several years as a research technician at the Virginia
Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, Virginia. To transition into a writing career, he completed a one-year
graduate program in Science Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. As both writer and researcher,
Mark has taken part in research cruises to the Southern Ocean, the North Pacific, the Gulf of Maine, and the
Bahamas, among other areas.
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