Michael Schmale
Professor, Marine Biology and Ecology
Director, National Aplysia Resource
Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science
mschmale@miami.edu
Dr. Schmale’s research interests are in the development and study of marine animal models of disease processes, with an emphasis on cancer and viral diseases.He is also the director of the National Aplysia Resource, an NIH-funded facility for production and research on California sea hares, Aplysia californica. His research on Aplysia includes studies of virology and aging with a current emphasis on the biology of a newly discovered virus in Aplysia and the role of viral infection in early life history, growth and aging. Ongoing research also includes a combination of laboratory and field studies to investigate the causative agents, distribution and mechanisms of carcinogenesis of natural occurring, transmissible tumors in one species of fish on South Florida reefs. Damselfish neurofibromatosis involves the peripheral nervous system and pigment cells of the bicolor damselfish (Stegastes partitus). His lab has shown that the etiological agent is a novel type of virus-like agent which infects the mitochondria of the tumor cells. This is the first known pathogen of any type to replicate within the mitochondria of an animal cell and thus can serve as a unique model for study of the role of mitochondria in carcinogenesis.
Keywords: marine animal models, cancer, virus, Aplysia californica, damselfish, mitochondria
