Liza Merly
Senior Lecturer/Undergraduate Program Director, Marine Biology and Ecology
Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science
lmerly@miami.edu lmerly@miami.edu
Liza Merly is a senior lecturer in Marine Biology and Ecology at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is interested in comparative immunology and marine biomedicine using elasmobranchs as model organisms to explore the evolution of the immune system. Sharks represent the most basal organisms in evolution that possess all the fundamental molecular mechanisms present in mammalian immune defense. Insights derived from shark immunological studies have significantly advanced our understanding. Dr. Merly's current work is aimed at characterizing innate and inflammatory mediators in sharks and isolating mediators produced by shark peripheral blood leukocytes. She is also investigating how to effectively measure immune status and health in wild shark populations. She has conducted various studies on the use of shark resources as supplements for human health. These endeavors included debunking the efficacy of commercial shark cartilage by identifying active components in store-bought supplements and evaluating their effects on primary human immune cells and mammalian cell lines. Dr. Merly also teaches an upper-level class in Marine Biomedicine, which delves into marine drug discovery and the use of marine organisms as models for biomedical research.
Keywords: elasmobranchs, sharks, immunology, supplements, novel bioactive compounds
