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We would like to welcome our newest faculty members to the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa! We are excited to have Drs. Matthew Knope, Maggie Yuan, and Lenore Pipes join our C-MĀIKI Faculty. Please visit their profiles to learn more about their research interests! Profile links: Matthew Knope Maggie Yuan Lenore Pipes

From June 25-26, 2019 Co-Director of C-MĀIKI Dr. Nicole Hynson attended the National Microbiome Centers Meeting at the Beckman Center, UC Irvine where workshops were held to discuss how we might coordinate our efforts across Microbiome Centers to move the field of microbiome science forward. Pictured here with Nicole is meeting organizer Dr. Jennifer Martiny (UC Irvine) and attendee Dr. Britt Koskella (UC Berkeley).

TheC-MĀIKI#mahimicrobe2018 competition provided opportunities for UH Mānoa graduate students (PhD or MS) to compete for seed funding (up to $5,000) to cultivate, expand and strengthen the incorporation of microbial research into their dissertation or thesis work; and to develop their scientific communication and marketing skills through the promotion and pitch of their research. We encouraged graduate students from any discipline to submit projects that highlight microbes at the foundation of a biological or physical process. The goal of this fellowship competition was to increase scientific literacy in microbiome research and foster trans-disciplinary research collaborations with microbes at the core. Congratulations to the #Mahimicrobe2018 Award Recipients $5,000 - Randi Rollins (PI: Rob Cowie) Project Title:   I can’t live without you: rat lungworm and microbes  Summary: This project will identify the microbial communities present in  Angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lungworm) and its obligate hosts (rats and snails) at different stages of the parasite’s life cycle. $5,000 - Shayle Matsuda (PI: Judy Lemus) Project Title: Does structureshape the microbial landscape? Examining intra-colonial variability in microbial (Symbiodinaceae spp. and bacteria) communities in a Hawaiian coral (Montipora capitata) Summary: The project will assess spatial microbial patterning – diversity and composition – within and across individual coral colonies and identify the mechanisms which make corals more susceptible to stress.  $3,500 - Wesley Sparagon (PI: Craig Nelson) Project Title: Synergistic impacts of algal DOM and temperature on coral reef bacteria Summary : This project investigates how coral reef-associated bacteria respond to the combination of thermal stress and algal competition using high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing. Findings from this study will help us better understand how microbial communities affect the fitness of coral reefs during periods of stress. $3,500 - Solange Saxby (PI: Yong Li) Project Title: Kalo; a functional prebiotic food Summary: Kalo is a nutrient dense food high in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber and it has the potential to be a prebiotic food and to improve gut health. This research project will investigate Kalo'spotentialas a functional prebiotic food by stimulating human digestion and fecal fermentation. $2,000 - Sarah Tucker (PI: Mike Rappe) Project Title: Examining the metabolic activities of abundant marine microbes at the population-level Summary: This research project seeks to define the metabolisms of the most abundant marine microbesat the ecologically-relevant scale of populations and will examine the metabolisms of abundant marine microbesat the surface of nearshore, coastal, and oceanic environments of Kāne‘oheBay, Hawai‘i using a genetic sequencing tool called metatranscriptomics. $2,000 – Sabrina Diemert (PI: Tao Yan) Project Title: Iron-reducingbacteria community changes and metagenomics under different water conditions (drinking water vs. wastewater) Summary: This project aims to investigate how iron-reducing bacteria (IRBs) behave in communities and how they change in different environments by growing IRB microcosms. Bacterial community DNA will be analyzedvia 16S amplicon sequencing and metagenomics techniques. The funding from #mahimicrobe2018 will be used to support the cost of training on the Nanopore MinION DNA sequencer with aims to apply this new sequencing technique inthe present study.   $2,000 - Maria Costantini (PI: Floyd Reed) Project Title: Examining the role of symbiotic microbes in preventing the extinction of a critically endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper Summary: This project seeks to determine the effect of captivity on the endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper ‘Akikiki gut microbiome and to develop better captive breeding practices.  $1,000 - Andrian Gajigan(PI: Grieg Steward) Title: Outsmarting the host: Exploring the role of giant virus-encoded microRNAs in regulating host machinery Summary: This study will utilize a giantvirus-phytoplankton model system isolated from Hawaiʻi waters to investigate the molecular mechanism of infection. Small RNA and transcriptome sequencing will be performed to facilitate the discovery of novel and evolutionary conserved microRNAs, and to gain insights into the expression patterns of microRNA gene targets, respectively.  $1,000 - Alexandra Paer(PI: Qing Li) Title: Interactions between gastrointestinalmicrobiome and corn silk flavones in relevance to Alzheimer’s disease prevention and treatment Summary: This study will determine the effect of microbiomes on absorption and transportation of flavonoids (such as isoorientin and derivatives, which has been implicatedin Alzheimer’s) to the brain and will investigate microbiome metabolism of flavonoids, possibly to smaller molecules that may be more readily absorbed and transported. Mahalo nui to our amazing panel of judges Dr. Kiana Frank (Assistant Professor, PBRC), Dr. Tara Essock-Burns (Post-Doc, PBRC). Randall Scarborough (Lab Manager, PBRC), Dr. Chad Walton (Research Program Officer, Office of Vice Chancellor, and Donavan Kealoha (Director, Startup Capital Ventures). Mahalo nui to Dr. Matt Medeiros (Assistant Professor, PBRC) and Dr. Brad Jones (Director CNFS, PBRC) for their facilitation of the event.

NIH COBRE - $10+ million over 5 years for an “Integrative Center for Environmental Microbiomes and Human Health” with two new core facilities: an insectary and a molecular analysis laboratory.

Through a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation we will be studying the function of microbiota (fungi and bacteria) across the Waimea watershed on the North Shore of O'ahu.

Microbiome centers like C-MĀIKI are on the rise across the U.S.! Read all about these academic hubs of microbiome-related research and the organization of the Microbiome Centers Consortium in this commentary published in Nature, featuring Director of C-MĀIKI Nicole Hynson and C-MĀIKI Advisor Margaret McFall-Ngai as authors. Cover image credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL

We are excited to restart the M4 seminar series (now entitled Māiki Mānoa Microbiome Meeting) this spring. This semester, the M4 seminar series will convene weekly on Wednesdays at 12PM in St. John 11. Date Speaker Unit/Institution Title 2/8/23 Dr. Matthew CI Medeiros PBRC/UH-Manoa Interdomain interactions in the mosquito microbiome 2/15/23 ​ ​ ​ 2/22/23 Dr. Seth Bordenstein Penn State University A Great Pandemic Reformulated as a Vector Control Tool: Genes, Mechanisms, and Implications 3/1/23 Dr. Nicola Kriefall PBRC/UH-Manoa Environmental structuring of the coral holobiont 3/8/23 Dr. Carmella Vizza Natural Sciences/Hawaiʻi Pacific University A biogeochemist's journey from Alaska to the Midwest to Hawaiʻi 3/15/23 ​ ​ ​ 3/22/23 ​ ​ ​ 3/29/23 Dr. Matthew J Medeiros PBRC/UH-Manoa TBA 4/5/23 Dr. Nancy Keller University of Wisconsin Language and Neighborhood Arrangements of BFFs (Bacterial-Fungal Frenemies) 4/12/23 Dr. Nicole Hynson PBRC/UH-Manoa From the enlightenment to the progressive era: what western history can teach us about the current state of microbiome science 4/19/23 Dr. Joanne Yew PBRC/UH-Manoa Microbial character shapes biological destiny 4/26/23 Dr. Olivia Nigro Natural Sciences/Hawaiʻi Pacific University TBA 5/3/23 ​ ​ ​

In February we welcomed the External Advisory Committee for the NIH COBRE: Integrative Center for Environmental Microbiomes and Human Health (ICEMHH). C-MĀIKI cooperating faculty involved in the Center presented their amazing research to leaders in the field of microbiome research.

A big congrats to C-MĀIKI faculty members Anthony Amend, Nicole Hynson, Craig Nelson and Alika Maunakea on their promotions to Full Professors, as well as faculty members Birendra Mishra and Peter Sadowski on their tenures and promotions!

C-MĀIKI wrapped up 2023 with our first in-person symposium since pre-pandemic! On December 14, 2023, C-MĀIKI faculty and students presented their microbiome research at the John M. Young Museum of Art here on the UH Mānoa campus. The event began with opening remarks from UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno, a message from C-MĀIKI Director Dr. Nicole Hynson, and a keynote address by Dr. Jennifer Martiny (UC Irvine, Director of the Microbiome Centers Consortium). Eighteen posters were shared, reflecting the diversity of microbiomes studied within C-MĀIKI. It was a wonderful afternoon of science and connection, and we look forward to the next one!

Drs. Nicole Hynson and Joerg Graf attended the 3rd Microbiome Centers Consortium meeting at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences & Engineering in Irvine, CA. This meeting brought together directors from over 25 microbiome centers across the U.S. to strategize and synergize microbiome related initiatives.