Horizons Fall 2014

24 HORIZONS S ymbiosis holds a dual mean- ing for Jose Lopez , Ph.D., a professor and researcher at NSU’s Oceanographic Center (OC). As a biologist, his research is sym- biotic with his main focus—the study of marine sponges and their microbes. But, his research also connects to the world around him. “Everything lives together, nothing lives in isolation,” said Lopez. Although he’s talking about the interactions be- tween different organisms, as well as the evolution of the organisms he studies, he is also referring to how he approaches his work and what he instills in his stu- dents. “There is a symbiosis that is essen- tial in the field of biology. You learn from each other. One person can’t, and does not, know everything,” added Lopez, who has been at NSU since 2007. Call it collaborative symbiosis—he is determined that Nova Southeastern University will become recognized for its genomics research. The marine biologist, who is also an evolutionary biologist, has plenty of new collaborative projects afoot including, but not confined to, a certificate program that has just begun at the OC in computational molecular biology. Then, there’s the initiative called the Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance, a community of invertebrate biologists dedicated to comparing and under- standing invertebrate genomes in an evolutionary and eco- logical context. Lopez is planning a workshop for the group in Munich next year so it becomes “truly international.” He has begun another crowd-funding project to study human skin microbiomes. “The data could have future health impacts as part of ‘personalized medicine’ profiles,” he said. For more information, visit www.nova.edu/ocean/microbiome . His genomics research recently got a boost. A collabora- tive grant with fellow biologist and principal investigator, Robert Smith, Ph.D., from the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, helped to fund a gene-sequencing machine that was recently installed in Lopez’s lab at NSU’s Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research. The grant was from the U.S. Department of Defense. Called the MiSeq desktop sequencer, Lopez said the machine will help researchers determine the DNA sequences of human skin as well as nonhuman (marine) microbiomes. “It’s an educa- tional tool, too, because we are going to be able to train stu- dents to use it. We can also generate lots of data and, with this kind of sophisticated equipment at our fingertips, we can come up with some exciting new projects.” Developing the next generation of researchers, and more importantly, those who leave NSU with hands-on skills that they can take into the real world, is one of Lopez’s primary concerns. “The sciences haven’t always typically been about getting jobs. For those who want to be scientists, there are a limited number of places you can go—academia, govern- ment, or industrial research,” said Lopez, who is helping to change that. The Computational Molecular Biology Gradu- ate Certificate that the professor was instrumental in creat- ing was designed to assist students’ entry into the genomics industry and workforce, a sector that is projected to grow robustly in the next decade. “My graduate students are going to be able to do research with these new certificate programs’ tools and resources that Putting Sponges and Genomes on the Map By Michelle F. Solomon faculty profile