Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Sciences Center

David E. Williams, Director
435 Weniger Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
(541) 737-3277
david.williams@oregonstate.edu
http://www.science.oregonstate.edu/mfbsc/

The Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Sciences Center has as its mission the development and use of aquatic models to investigate environmental problems of human health concern. As recognized by the National Institutes of Health, aquatic models can be used as sensitive, low-cost, comparative vertebrate models that reduce dependence on mammalian species for health-related research. The center was established initially in 1985 through core support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and was formally established as a research Center of Excellence through the State Board of Higher Education in 1989.

Center research has used fish models, primarily rainbow trout and zebrafish, to study cancer and its modulation by dietary and environmental factors, aging, immune function, environmental pollution, and stress response, and developmental toxicology, including fetal alcohol syndrome. Center investigators also conduct research on the chemistry of marine toxins using marine algae and nerve gasses and their neurotoxicology in fish models. A newer focus of the Center is on toxicogenomics. A multidisciplinary team of senior investigators and students from three colleges at OSU provides expertise in pharmacology, biochemistry, molecular genetics, chemistry, developmental toxicology, toxicogenomics and pathology in a collaborative environment. The Center's work on the interactions between environmental agents, diet, and cancer, including the possibility of dietary chemoprevention, supports the research, teaching, and extension mission of OSU as a Land Grant university.

To support these functions, the Center provides research funds for pilot studies leading to research grant applications, supports a schedule of seminars and visiting consultants, and provides guidance in program development through annual external program review by invited experts. The Center also supports facilities cores including a trout hatchery/histopathology research facility that is unique worldwide, and facilities for microarray and structural chemistry.