C-MAIKI
Center for MICROBIOME Analysis
through Island Knowledge & Investigation
the
INSTITUTE
Matt Medeiros
Assistant Professor
Pacific Biosciences Research Center
School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology
Phone: (808) 956-8187
Fax: (808) 956-6984
E-mail: mcmedeir@hawaii.edu
Web: http://www.medeiros-hui.com/
instagram: @ikaikasci
MY RESEARCH
The Medeiros Lab Hui uses field, laboratory, mathematical, and statistical techniques to clarify patterns of microbial symbiosis, primarily among metazoan hosts. We seek to resolve drivers of diversity among host-associated microbiomes, and the impact of microbial symbiosis on host health and performance in their environment.
C-MĀIKI SYNERGY
The Medeiros Lab Hui leverages the transdisciplinary approach of C-MĀIKI to better contextualize animal health and organismal functioning within a heterogeneous environment. With the support of broad, interdisciplinary collaborations within C-MĀIKI, we test a fundamental hypothesis that variation in health and performance of hosts among environmental gradients is modulated, in part, by diversity among their microbial symbionts.
IMPACT TO HAWAII
Patterns of microbial symbiosis among host organisms underlie several public health and conservation issues in Hawai‘i, including the transmission of human mosquito-borne viruses, rat lungworm, and avian malaria that threatens native Hawaiian honeycreeper populations. By elucidating mechanisms that determine the diversity of microbial symbionts among hosts and the functions they provide, we aim to inform strategies that limit infectious disease emergence and develop evidence-based approaches to mitigate transmission risks in Hawai‘i nei.