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The National Science Foundation has granted Professor Woodhams the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award.  The award will fund five years of research in the Woodhams Lab, focusing on Microbiome Regulation by Amphibian Skin Peptides, and will support a new course, Microbiome and Disease Ecology Lab, focused on authentic research experiences for undergraduates. Congratulations Dr. Woodhams!

NSF Grant Summary | UMass Boston Press Release 

Science Magazine publishes a sweeping study including 15 years of Dr. Woodhams’ research. In collaboration with Jamie Voyles at University of Nevada, Reno, the study describes rebounding populations of amphibians in Panama. Rather than a weakening pathogen, the research shows that host skin defenses or biotic community factors may be responsible for creating conditions for coexistence of amphibians and the chytrid fungus.

Voyles J, Woodhams DC, Saenz V, Byrne AQ, Perez R, Rios-Sotelo G, Ryan MJ, Bletz MC, Sobell FA, McLetchie S, Reinert L, Rosenblum EB, Rollins-Smith LA, Ibáñez R, Ray JM, Griffith EJ, Ross H, Richards-Zawacki CL. (2018) Shifts in disease dynamics in a tropical amphibian assemblage are not due to pathogen attenuation. Science 359(6383):1517-1519.

 

Link to article | Link to New York Times article | Link to Science News | Link to The Atlantic article

Fighting the fungal diseases that have killed millions of frogs and other amphibians is a top priority, and new research suggests natural soil bacteria might provide protection. UMass Boston biology professor Doug Woodhams tells Living on Earth’s Helen Palmer how they work, and might help other species threatened by these illnesses.

Listen to the interview/Read the transcript