Oceans and Health: A Prescription for the Future

Paul Sandifer

Chief Scientist, NOAA’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative

Primary Drivers for Establishment of a National OHH Initiative

• National Academy Reports:– From Monsoons to Microbes: Understanding the Role of

the Oceans in Human Health– Under the Weather: Climate, Ecology and Infectious

Disease– Marine Biotechnology– Grand Environmental Challenges

• U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

• Program Implementation by NSF & NIEHS• Congressional Appropriations• NOAA Strategic Plan• Oceans and Human Health Act of 2004

An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century

Human Threats to Ocean Health

• Ballast water,

invasive species

• Overfishing, ecosystem collapse

• NPS pollution, stormwater runoff • Coastal development, wetland loss

more impervious surfaces

Impacts of Coastal Development on Ocean and Human Health

bacterial/viral contamination of seafood & beaches

decreased biodiversity and natural habitat

increased flooding

Ocean Threats to Human Health

Role of OHHI within NOAA

Historical Focus of

NOAA

Focus of OHH Initiative

NOAA OHHI Scientific Goals

• Support an ecosystems approach to understanding causal relationships among humans, ocean processes, marine ecosystem health, and human health outcomes;

• Predict ocean-related impacts on human health and identify emerging marine-related human health threats;

• Promote the ecologically sound discovery of marine organisms and bioactive agents for human health benefit; and

• Provide useful information for public health and natural resource decision makers

NOAA Centers of Excellencein Oceans & Human Health

• Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) – predicting the formation of toxic algal blooms, beach

closings, and water quality• Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML)

– quality and safety of coastal waters and seafood and development of tools to characterize chemical and microbial threats to marine ecosystems and humans.

• Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC)– infectious diseases, toxins, and chemicals that directly

impact human health, and the use of marine organisms as sentinel species.

OHHI Competitive External Grants

• FY04: 104 proposals received, 17 grants awarded ($6.8 million)

• FY05: proposals under review (~$7 million, including continuing projects): ~ 150 proposals received

Speakers

• Dr. Dan Baden, Director, Center for Marine Science, University of NC at Wilmington

• Ms. Sarah Chasis, Director of Water and Coastal Programs, Natural Resources Defense Council

• Dr. Lora Fleming, Professor, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami

• Dr. Don Perkins, Director, Gulf of Maine Research Institute

• Ms. Kathleen Frith, Director,Communications and Outreach, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School