School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000
USA

Site designed and maintained by Bassem Allam
Bassem.Allam@stonybrook.edu

Current Students Graduate students Wade Carden Wade is a Master’s student that joined the MDPRC in Spring 2005.  He works with Allam and his research uses field and laboratory approaches to explore the potential for aggregates (i.e., marine snow, flocs) to serve as reservoirs and vectors of microbial pathogens in coastal marine environments. Biological oceanographers have long appreciated sinking aggregates as sites of intense heterotrophic microbial activity. If facultative/opportunistic pathogens are among the microbial communities that can be enriched in aggregates, a susceptible marine organism that comes into contact with these aggregates (e.g., filter-feeding bivalves) may develop disease or passively concentrate pathogens.  With bivalves, the latter scenario is notable as a human health issue in that it relates to seafood consumption safety. More information about his research can be found here.
Soren Dahl Soren received his Master’s degree from the Marine Science Research Center in August of 2006. His thesis research, as a New York Sea Grant Scholar with Allam, investigated the transmission of QPX disease in hard clams through laboratory trials and field assays. Soren is now a student in the PhD program and will continue to work in with QPX concerning the potential role of environmental influences on that disease system. Soren also maintains an interest in conservation which has lead to involvement with the Student Conservation Association, the Blue Ocean Institute and volunteering with The Nature Conservancy; stocking hard clam spawner sanctuaries in Great South Bay. More information about his investigations can be found at Allam's QPX pages.
Margaret Homerding Margaret, having graduated with a BA in Marine Science from the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, is a master’s candidate at MSRC. Margaret is a New York Sea Grant scholar working with Allam to study shell and hemolymph associated immune parameters (respiratory oxidative burst, phenoloxidase activity, phagocytosis, antimicrobial activity of the plasma, and phenoloxidase and hemocyanin concentrations of the shell) of the American lobsters, Homarus americanus, in relation to Epizootic Shell Disease. She is co-advised by Allam and by Dr Anne McElroy. More about her research project can be found here.
Jesse Hornstein After obtaining a Bachelor degree from Stony Brook University, Jesse pursued his studies in our school as a Master's student since Fall 2007. His general interests are shellfish biology and ecology and he is particularly interested in understanding factors that affect surfclam recruitment in NY's inshore populations. He is currently developing his research in close collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Maureen Davidson) and with MADL faculty (Allam and Pales Espinosa) and other faculty members of our school (Drs Kamazima Lwiza and Robert Cerrato). More about Jesse's project can be found here.
Soojin Jeon Soojin received her Master's degree from Pukyong National University (Republic of Korea) in February 2007 before joining SoMAS as a PhD student. She will be generating a thesis project in the near future. She currently assists Fast with his investigations of viral hemorrhagic septicaemia virus. More information about that project can be found here.
Qianqian Liu Qianqian's initial investigations focused on the molecular genetic variations within and among isolates of QPX, a parasite of the hard clam. Her current studies focus on developing a quantitative real-time PCR technique to study the dynamics of QPX abundance in its host and in the natural environment. She aims to understand the transmission and progression of QPX disease in hard clams and she is particularly interested in studying the community structure (diversity and abundance) of labyrinthulomycetes (thraustochytrids), a group of microorganisms which are relatives of QPX in taxonomy, to understand their ecological roles in coastal ocean environment. Qianqian is co-advised by Allam and Dr Jackie Collier. More information about her investigations can be found at Allam's QPX pages.
Mickael Perrigault Mickael received his master degree from the University of Brest in France where his studies focused on bacterial diseases of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum. He joined the PhD program of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in 2004 under the supervision of Allam. As part of his PhD research, Mickael currently studies host-pathogen interactions of the QPX disease in the hard clams. He is particularly interested in molecular virulence factors of the pathogen, host defenses and their modulations by environmental parameters.
Mark Sokolowski After initially coming to Stony Brook University with an interest in aquatic animal diseases caused by parasites, Mark's current interest has moved slightly into the field of parasite ecology and biodiversity. Under the direction of Dove, his research focuses on the distribution of parasite species and how these distributions scale up to communities of parasites within and amongst host. This research intersects with the biodiversity of the parasite community and how that diversity is partitioned in a host community. He is still interested in the pathology that a host endures in the host-parasite relationship from the aspect of the amount, measured in bio-volume, of parasites needed to cause disease or death.
Sarah Winnicki Sarah received her Bachelor of Science in Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology from the University of Rhode Island in 2005. Her current research at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (SoMAS) is performed under the supervision of Allam and involves interactions between Perkinsus marinus, a marine protistan parasite and its host Crassostrea virginica (Eastern oyster). She is in her first year as a master's student at SoMAS and will be generating a thesis project in the near future
Undergraduate and high school interns   Matt Clark Grade 11 student at Mt Sinai High School Matt works with Fast on developping immunological gene assays for teleosts and American lobster
Laura Gambino Grade 10 student at Miller Place High School Laura is working with Allam studying the effect of environmental conditions on humoral defense factors of the hard clam
Eliott Kurtz Grade 11 student at Mt Sinai High School Matt works with Fast on developping immunological gene assays for teleosts and American lobster
Michael Taddeo Senior Honours College Student Michael works under Fast directions on Mycobacteria monitoring in Long Island Sound bluefish and striped bass populations

Prior Students


Graduate students
Deenie Bugge, 2006 (Allam)
Amanda Tribble, 2005 (Dove)
Hua Qian, 2004 (Allam)

Undergraduate and high school interns
Chuan Hao Chen, High School Intern, Manhasset High School, 2007 (Allam)
Sophia Christides, High School Intern, Plainview High School, 2007 (Allam)
Yuk-Ting Lau, Undergraduate Intern, 2003- 2006 (Allam)
Monica Chu, NSF's REU Intern, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006 (Allam)
Alexandra Hay, High School Intern, Jericho High School, 2006 (Allam)
Jason Havelin, Undergraduate Intern, 2005 (Allam)
Brandon Moss, High School Intern, Plainview High School, 2004 (Allam)


Students Publications


Buggé D, Allam B. (2007). Effects of starvation and macroalgae extracts on the survival and growth of Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 348: 60-69.

Buggé D, Hégaret H, Wikfors G, Allam B. (2007). Oxidative burst in hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) haemocytes. Fish and Shellfish Immunology 23(1): 188-196.

Buggé D.M., Allam B. (2005). A fluorometric technique for the in vitro measurement of growth and viability in Quahog Parasite Unknown. Journal of Shellfish Research 24: 1013-1018.

Dahl, S.F., Allam, B. (2007). Laboratory transmission studies of QPX disease in the hard clam: Development of an infection procedure. Journal of Shellfish Research 26: 383-389.

Dove A.D.M., Allam B., Powers J.J., Sokolowski M.S. (2005). A prolonged thermal stress experiment on the American lobster, Homarus americanus. Journal of Shellfish Research 24: 761-765.

Dove, A. D. M., Sokolowski, M. S., Bartlett, S. L. and Bowser, P. R. 2005. Spatio-Temporal Variation in Serum Chemistry of the Lobster, Homarus americanus Milne-Edwards. Journal of Fish Diseases 28: 663-675.

Lyons, M. Maille, Yuk-Ting Lau, Wade E. Carden, J. Evan Ward, Steven B. Roberts, Roxanna Smolowitz, Joseph Vallino, and Bassem Allam. 2007. Characteristics of marine aggregates in shallow-water ecosystems: Implications for disease ecology. EcoHealth. In Press.

Moss B., Allam B. (2006). Fluorometric measurement of oxidative burst in lobster hemocytes and inhibiting effect of pathogenic bacteria and hypoxia. Journal of Shellfish Research 25(3): 1051-1057.

Qian H., Liu Q., Allam B., Collier JL. (2007). Molecular genetic variation within and among isolates of QPX (Thraustochytridae), a parasite of the hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria. Disease of Aquatic Organisms 77: 159-168.

Sokolowski, M. S. and Dove, A. D. M. 2006. Histopathological Examination of Wild American Eels Infected with Anguillicola crassus. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health 18: 257-262.

Students Presentations

Buggé D., Dahl S., Allam B. (2005). Investigations of the virulence and environmental tolerance of different isolates of Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX). February 28-March 2, 2005. Milford, Connecticut, USA.

Buggé D., Dahl S., Allam B. (2005). Setup of a fluorometric plate reader technique for in vitro measurement of QPX viability and proliferation. Annual Meeting of the National Shellfisheries Association. April 10-14, 2005. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Buggé D.M., Perrigault M., Allam B. (2006). In vitro investigations of quahog parasite unknown (QPX). February 27-March 1, 2005. Milford, Connecticut, USA.

Carden, W.E., Lau Y.T., Lyons M.M., Ward J.E., Smolowitz R., Vallino J., Allam B. (2006). Lethal marine snow: pathogenic bacteria and protists in marine aggregates. Annual PI Meeting, Ecology of Infectious Disease Program. November 16-17, 2006. Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Collier J., Qian H., Liu Q., Allam B. (2006). Molecular genetic variation among QPX isolates. Annual Meeting of the National Shellfisheries Association. March 26-30, 2006. Monterey, California, USA.

Dahl S., Buggé D., Allam B. (2005). Transmission of Quahog Parasite Unknown in hard clams: interactions between different host strains and pathogen isolates. Annual Meeting of the National Shellfisheries Association. April 10-14, 2005. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Dahl, S. and B. Allam (2006). Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) Disease in the Hard Clam: Current Status in New York and Summary of Research Results. 2006 Northeast Shellfish Sanitation Association meeting. Port Jefferson, NY.

Dahl, S., M. Perrigault and B. Allam. (2006).Tolerance of Different Hard Clam Stocks to Various Isolates of Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX). 9th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration. Charleston, SC.

Liu Q., Allam B., Collier J. (2006). Investigation of genetic variability of QPX, a pathogen of the hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria. February 27-March 1, 2005. Milford, Connecticut, USA.

Liu, Q., B. Allam, and J. L. Collier. 2007. Development of a QPCR assay for the thraustochytrid QPX (Labyrinthulomycota). Phycological Society of America and International Society of Protistologists Joint Annual Meeting. 5-9 August. Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

Lyons M., Lau Y.-T., Carden W.E., Allam B., Smolowitz R., Vallino J., Ward J.E. (2006). Lethal marine snow: investigating the significance of marine aggregates in shallow water ecosystems. Annual PI Meeting, Ecology of Infectious Disease Program. November 16-17, 2006. Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Perrigault M., Buggé D.M., Allam B. (2007). Survival and growth of Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) on simple media derived from marine organisms. Meeting of the World Aquaculture Society. February 26-March 2, 2007. San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Sokolowski, M. S. and Dove, A. D. M. 2005. Histopathological Examination of Wild American Eels, Anguilla rostrata, Infected with Anguillicola crassus. 80th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologist July 8-11.

Sokolowski, M. S. and Dove, A. D. M. 2005. Mycobacteria Infections in New York Striped Bass and Bluefish. 30th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop June 13-17.

Sokolowski, M. S. and Dove, A. D. M. 2004. Histopathological Examination of Wild American Eels, Anguilla rostrata, Infected with Anguillicola crassus. 29th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop March 22-26.

Sokolowski, M. S., Huffman, J. E. and Washuta, E. 2003. Investigations of Genetic Polymorphism among Anguillicola crassus in Populations of Anguilla rostrata. 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop April 21-25.