Archive for the Featured Category

National Science Foundation grants Professor Woodhams the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award

Dr. Woodhams pictured with Northern leopard frog, a focal species for investigating microbiome interactions with host skin defenses

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 Woodhams Lab findings

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

NPR’s Living On Earth interviews Dr. Woodhams: Good Bacteria Could Save Amphibians

Cow Knob salamander, Plethodon punctatus, from George Washington National Forest, VA
Photo: Matt Becker.

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

Trends in Microbiology publishes new study: Managing Amphibian Disease with Skin Microbiota

Trends in MicroBiology 1

Cow Knob salamander, Plethodon punctatus, from George Washington National Forest, VA
Cover photo: Doug Woodhams.

In a section on Science and Society, Woodhams and colleagues describe state-of-the-art approaches for amphibian disease management.  These include probiotic bacteria that persist from aquatic tadpole to terrestrial adult frog stages, and bacteria that produce volatile compounds including hydrogen cyanide that can kill fungus from a distance and could be applied to soils. These management tools were announced on the heels of a moratorium on salamander trade to help prevent invasion by a new salamander chytrid.  This is the 50th peer-reviewed publication from new assistant professor Doug Woodhams, and was supported by the UMass Boston Endowed Faculty Career Development Award.

Woodhams DC, Bletz M, Kueneman J, McKenzie V. (2016) Managing Amphibian Disease with Skin Microbiota. Trends in Microbiology, 24:161-164.

 

Contact

Douglas C. Woodhams, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
UMass Boston | Department of Biology
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Phone: 617-287-6679