The CHAMP lab’s research focuses on combating stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). This disease was first discovered off the coast of Miami, Florida in 2014, and has since spread along more than 96,000 acres of coral reef, impacting the majority of the Florida Reef Tract. Out of the 45 species of stony corals found on the Florida reef tract, at least 22 stony corals are greatly affected by SCTLD, which includes important reef-building species. This disease is devastating, with a greater than 80 percent mortality rate for some susceptible species. SCTLD is capable of being transmitted through both physical contact and the water column, making it very difficult to contain.

The CHAMP lab has isolated potentially beneficial bacteria from SCTLD-resistant corals, with the goal of utilizing these strains as probiotic treatments to treat SCTLD. One of the probiotics from the great star coral (Montastraea cavernosa) has demonstrated effectiveness at stopping the progression of SCTLD on fragments of this species in the lab. Using this knowledge, the CHAMP lab is researching methods of bringing the probiotics into the field to treat whole coral colonies in an attempt to not only stop disease progression, but also prevent infection.

Current Lab Members

Head Scientist & PI: Dr. Valerie J. Paul

Microbiologist and George Burch Postdoctoral Scholar & PI: Dr. Blake Ushijima

Biologist: Dr. Jennifer Sneed

Chemist: Dr. Sarath Gunasekera

Laboratory Technician: Kelly Pitts

Laboratory Technician: Jay Houk

Intern: Olivia Carmack

Intern: Yesmarie De La Flor

Intern: Kylie Zimmerman

Intern: Tessa Vekich

Former Lab Members

Intern: Jacqueline Reu (2019-2020)

Intern: Elizabeth Weatherup (2019-2020)

Intern: Andrea Mason (2019-2020)

Intern: Raquel Wetzel (2019-2020)

Intern: Monica Schul (2019-2020)

Intern: Sharon Thompson (2016- 2018)

Dr. Julie Meyer

Dr. Christina Kellogg

Dr. Greta Aeby

Dr. Claudia Hase

Please visit Dr. Valerie J. Paul’s Google Scholar and Dr. Blake Ushijima’s Google Scholar for the most up-to-date list of peer-reviewed publications.

Aeby, G., Ushijima, B., Campbell, J. E., Jones, S., Williams, G., Meyer, J. L., ... & Paul, V. (2019). Pathogenesis of a tissue loss disease affecting multiple species of corals along the Florida Reef Tract. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 678.

Meyer, J. L., Castellanos-Gell, J., Aeby, G. S., Häse, C. C., Ushijima, B., & Paul, V. J. (2019). Microbial community shifts associated with the ongoing stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak on the Florida Reef Tract. Frontiers in microbiology, 10, 2244.

Paul, V. J., Aeby, G., Ushijima, B., Meyer, J. L., Thompson, S., Houk, L. J., ... & Häse, C. (2019, November). Investigation of potential etiological agents and biological controls of a coral disease outbreak in Florida. In 2019 CERF Biennial Conference. CERF.

Paul, V. J., Ushijima, B., & Aeby, G. (2019). Studies of the Ecology and Microbiology of Florida’s Coral Tissue Loss Diseases.

Check out the CHAMP lab @PolypProtectors and Dr. Blake Ushijima @vibriosoup on twitter!

https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/smithsonian-marine-station/news/probiotics-show-promise-coral-disease

https://ocean.si.edu/ecosystems/coral-reefs/sickness-sea-coral-plague-hits-florida

https://www.smithsonianofi.com/blog/2019/09/03/probiotics-show-promise-for-coral-disease/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHfzmJE99l8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flIFtavgYj8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NitVB2JbfAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R70J6n6J-s8&t=84s