University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� student Elizabeth Rooks is earning national recognition for her research on retinoblastoma, a pediatric eye cancer, during a dedicated research year.

Rooks was awarded the Research to Prevent Blindness Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship, a competitive program supporting students advancing the understanding and treatment of eye disease.

“It’s an incredible honor,” she said. “This fellowship feels like an investment in my future, but more importantly in work that directly impacts patients.”

Advancing retinoblastoma research

Collaborating with researchers at the University of Washington, Rooks examines the genetic mutations behind the retinoblastoma and how they are inherited.

“Some patients also go on to develop osteosarcomas or other cancers in their 40s and 50s, while others never do,” she said.

Her work uses long-read genetic sequencing, which can identify not only mutations but also which parent passed them on.

“Unlike traditional sequencing methods, long-read sequencing lets us see the parental origin of a mutation without needing to test the parents. This is important because earlier research shows that mutations inherited from the father can make retinoblastoma more aggressive,” she said.

Rooks also helps collect and sequence DNA from patients and return findings to clinicians, potentially informing care in a fast-progressing cancer. Understanding the origin may help identify high-risk children earlier and guide more precise treatment.

After her research year, Rooks will return to �鶹��ý to complete her medical training.

“I am so grateful for this fellowship and for my team,” she said. “Working with them has taught me so much and has shown me the kind of physician I want to become.”

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University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa Professor Emeritus of and pioneering marine microbiologist , was as a Fellow of the European Academy of Microbiology. The recognition celebrates outstanding scientific achievement and leadership in microbiology.

DeLong is considered a trailblazer in the field of metagenomics—the study of all genetic material from all organisms in a particular environment—whose research has transformed understanding of the ocean’s microbial life. His work advanced innovative gene cloning and sequencing, allowing scientists to study complex marine microbial communities and their role in the environment without the use of traditional microbial cultures.

“I was thrilled to hear the news about Ed’s election to the European Academy of Microbiology, a well-earned honor,” said David Karl, UH Mānoa oceanography professor,DeLong’s long-time colleague and co-director of both the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education and the . “Ed and other newly elected members represent the second golden age of microbiology, one centered on microbial oceanography and ecology.”

Scientific breakthroughs

Early in DeLong’s career, he used methodologies developed by his postdoctoral research advisor Norm Pace to identify microbes “in the wild.” Together they discovered two new lineages of a major microbial group called Archaea (previously not thought to live in seawater) were abundant everywhere—from in the Pacific Ocean to Antarctica, and from the sea surface to the seafloor.

Later, new methods that DeLong’s group adapted from the Human Genome project to study microbial ecology led to the discovery that most bacteria in the upper ocean can use sunlight to generate biochemical energy using proteins called opsins. This finding revealed a widespread, previously unknown solar energy-gathering mechanism in the ocean, with significant implications for the global carbon and energy cycles.

“To be recognized and honored by world-renowned microbiologists of the European Union was unexpected, and very humbling,” DeLong said. “I believe that scientific disciplines like microbiology should have no geographic or cultural boundaries—yet in today’s political landscape there are increasing challenges to free and open international collaborations. To me, this makes recognition by the European Academy of Microbiology all the more potent of an honor.”

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A $500,000 investment in the newly established Stephen Nomura Endowed Professorship at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s (JABSOM) is helping sustain groundbreaking research into pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), a rare genetic disease that affects the skin, eyes and blood vessels.

Approved by the UH Board of Regents in January 2026, the professorship honors the , remembered for his compassion and dedication to patient care. The endowed fund supports genetics research and graduate training in the .

The professorship currently supports Olivier Le Saux, endowed professor of genetics and chair of the department. �鶹��ý is home to one of only two PXE research centers in the U.S., where Le Saux advances experimental therapies and supports clinical trials in Europe and the U.S.

Understanding PXE

PXE affects an estimated 1 in 25,000 to 50,000 people worldwide. The disorder causes abnormal calcification of elastic fibers, significantly increasing the risk of cardiovascular complications. Though it can have serious consequences, it remains understudied.

It allows us to train graduate students…to become the next generation of scientists.
—Oliver La Saux

Le Saux helped transform PXE from a century-old medical mystery into an active field of research. In 1999, he was part of an intense international race to identify the gene primarily responsible for the disorder.

“We were sprinting to the finish line, shoulder to shoulder,” he recalled. “We were competing furiously but still working together at the same time.”

The breakthrough changed the trajectory for families living with the disease.

“At the time, there was almost no shared knowledge about PXE,” recalled Sharon Terry, whose two children were diagnosed in the 1990s. “Without a genetic explanation, families were left navigating fear and uncertainty on their own.”

Investing in future scientists

For Le Saux, the endowment represents long-term investment in people and discovery.

“This kind of support gives us flexibility,” he said. “It allows us to train graduate students in the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate program at JABSOM to become the next generation of scientists.”

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University of �鶹��ý at researcher Jesse Owens has received a $2 million NIH (National Institutes of Health) grant to advance his lab’s pioneering gene-editing technology at the (JABSOM).

Related UH News story: Next generation gene therapy tools built by UH scientist

“This is my dream grant,” said Owens, associate professor at JABSOM’s Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. “It’s the project I’ve always wanted to do. It funds exactly what our lab is passionate about, which is developing safer, more precise tools for gene therapy that can be used across many different diseases.”

The four-year, $2 million R01 award supports Owens’ effort to create a new generation of transposases, the specialized enzymes that insert genes into precise genome locations. Unlike other gene-editing tools such as CRISPR—which cut DNA and can sometimes lead to unwanted mutations during the repair process—Owens’ method replaces genes without cutting or exposing the DNA, allowing for safer and more precise gene delivery.

Refining precision in gene therapy

That precision is the result of years of meticulous research. Graduate student Chris Tran created and tested more than 200 mutated enzymes to find one that makes very few mistakes and changes only the intended genes without affecting others. The lab’s next goal is to improve the system’s “on-target” efficiency—the rate at which genes land exactly where intended.

“Our goal now is to find that perfect balance,” Owens said. “We’ve minimized the off-target effects; now we’re working on boosting the on-target performance so that the system is both incredibly safe and incredibly effective.”

Owens’ lab has already made remarkable progress. Early versions achieved less than 1% gene delivery efficiency. Through years of refinement, the latest system now reaches nearly 100% efficiency, a leap Owens once thought impossible.

“What we didn’t realize early on was just how fine-tuned this system needed to be,” he said. “If you move the target by just two base pairs, the efficiency can drop dramatically. We had to test hundreds of iterations to find the right combination.”

Building tools to fight many diseases

Owens describes his lab as “disease agnostic,” building tools that can be applied broadly, from hemophilia to cystic fibrosis to cancer.

Imagine something that started in your PhD eventually becoming part of a therapy that fights cancer.
—Jesse Owens

“It’s a special type of R01 (grant),” he explained. “It’s not tied to one disease area, which is perfect for us. We can focus on making the best tool possible, and then share it with researchers who specialize in different diseases.”

Ultimately, Owens hopes the technology will accelerate CAR T immunotherapy, which reprograms immune cells to destroy cancer. His team plans to test the system in human T-cells before collaborating with clinical researchers.

“The really exciting thing is that this could one day help treat actual patients,” Owens said. “Imagine something that started in your PhD eventually becoming part of a therapy that fights cancer. That’s what drives us.”

The grant also supports two JABSOM graduate students, providing hands-on experience at the forefront of gene therapy research.

“Dr. Owens and his team are not only advancing the science of gene editing, they’re inspiring the next generation of scientists who will continue our legacy of innovation and discovery,” said JABSOM Dean Sam Shomaker.

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A research trip by scientists to Wake Island and Johnston Atoll—two remote spots in the Pacific—will provide new and comprehensive insights into the historic and potential future role of these two places as biological stepping-stones for movement of marine species between the Hawaiian Islands and other archipelagoes of the North Pacific Ocean.

Wake and Johnston are isolated coral atolls 2,300 miles and 800 miles southwest of Honolulu, respectively. Both share many species in common with �鶹��ý, and the apparent biogeographic connection has important implications for understanding how often species disperse via Johnston and Wake to and from �鶹��ý, versus dispersing directly to �鶹��ý from more distant archipelagoes, such as the Marianas, Line and Marshall Islands.

In July 2024, the UH ����ԴDz� team collected thousands of tissue samples from several species of sea urchins, seawater samples, and water and plankton samples from the surface layers of the ocean as they transited between Guam, Wake, Johnston, and back to �鶹��ý. DNA will be extracted from all of the samples to understand connections at gene, whole genome, species, and community levels of organization. The work to analyze each specimen will take months.

“The research will tell us about the biological connections between �鶹��ý and other parts of the Pacific and also make predictions about what the future holds, including the potential dispersal of species that may have either a positive or negative impact on Hawaiian coral reef ecosystems,” said Peter Marko, professor in the and co-leader of the research team.

Access to the coral reef communities at Wake and Johnston has been limited by a long history of military activity at each atoll. Comprehensive species lists have not been completed, especially with respect to organisms that are not easily detected visually. Genetic analysis has been limited to a handful of species, but what data are available have generated intriguing ideas that can be tested with data from many more species.

Groundbreaking research

Scientists are studying sea urchins because their babies (larvae) float in the ocean, making them easy to observe in labs. This helps researchers understand how long these baby sea urchins can survive while drifting in the complicated currents of the North Pacific Ocean. Working with NOAA scientists, who are using computers to map how ocean currents move these larvae, the research team can predict where the baby sea urchins might end up. They can then test these predictions by looking at the DNA of sea urchins from different areas to see if they’re related.

“Models, genetic analysis, and larval biology all provide pieces of the puzzle, but only by combining all three can we understand how far marine larvae can travel in the ocean, and how often larvae from other parts of the Pacific arrive in �鶹��ý,” said research co-leader and School of Life Sciences Professor Amy Moran.

Environmental DNA (or eDNA) will be extracted from seawater samples taken from around each atoll and be used similarly to study the genetic similarities of populations of species found in �鶹��ý, Wake and Johnston. eDNA analysis is limited to a small number of genes from each species, but has the advantage of providing the population genetic signatures of an unprecedented number of species.

“eDNA can provide a new perspective on community population genetics by increasing the number of species in analyses from dozens to hundreds of species, including hard to find or identify species that are often overlooked,” said Taylor Ely, a School of Life Sciences PhD candidate who is leading the eDNA work.

Expedition challenges, opportunities

The expedition was funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted from the UNOLS (University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System) research vessel Thomas G Thompson. The research team boarded the R/V Thompson in Guam and then spent 18 days at sea, stopping for three days each at Wake and Johnston. The trip was a collaboration between faculty, staff, and students from the UH ����ԴDz� School of Life Sciences, UH Diving Safety Program, NOAA, , and University of Washington Marine Operations, the latter which operates the Thompson.

Scuba diving in remote locations presented numerous logistic hurdles and safety considerations for the team. Small craft and operators provided by both the UH Marine Center and the R/V Thompson supported four, two-diver missions per day.

“Once the boats are in the water and away from the ship, you still have to navigate through reefs and avoid surf to get divers to their sampling sites,” said Mills Dunlap, small boat manager and operator from the UH Marine Center. “This cruise was fortunate to not only have an incredible platform to get us there, but also a great crew and a gungho group of scientists.”

UH Diving Safety Officer David Pence added, “The support for this mission from UNOLS and personnel from the R/V Thompson and the UH Marine Center was exceptional. In recent years, very few UNOLS vessels have had experience with research diving support, so to accomplish this project was an exciting opportunity.”

“The trip was three years in the making,” Marko said. “We’re especially grateful to College of Natural Sciences Dean Philip Williams and the staff of the College of Natural Sciences, the School of Life Sciences, and the Research Corporation of the University of �鶹��ý for making it possible to bring several UH students and recent graduates along with us to help on the project. These are invaluable opportunities for them.”

University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� Assistant Professor Zhi-Yan “Rock” Du from the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering (MBBE) has received a from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to jumpstart a project that will introduce the UH System to CRISPR, the basis of genetic editing technology.

Motivated to educate �鶹��ý’s current and future workforce in this cutting-edge technology—and to better represent Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in science and technology disciplines—Du has initiated the first official CRISPR laboratory course at UH ����ԴDz�, in addition to CRISPR workshops for baccalaureate and two-year postsecondary students within the UH System.

“This education project will address the educational disparities and needs of curriculum development, instructional delivery systems and expand student career opportunities,” said Du. “The long-term goal of this project is to develop agricultural and science literacy in �鶹��ý by building competencies in molecular biology, genetics, biotechnology, agricultural science and science communication.”

Du and his graduate students and teaching assistants conducted an MBBE/BIOL 401Lab Molecular Biotechnology Lab-Gene Editing by CRISPR/Cas9 in spring 2023 and have also planned workshops in summer and fall, with the first workshop to launch in July 2023. Students will also utilize materials such as tropical maize from a current research project for this new education opportunity.

CRISPR for the future, food of �鶹��ý

In the past decade, CRISPR genetic engineering tools have become an essential technology in numerous industries, including food and agriculture, drug development and therapy, as well as ongoing scientific research; however, Du said that CRISPR systems are “not well understood in the general community, leading to fears and misunderstandings about genetic engineering and an overall anti-science outlook.”

“�鶹��ý is heavily dependent on food imports,” said Du. “It’s urgent to simulate local agriculture and workforce development. The grant will promote the education of college students on novel non-transgenic genome editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas RNP (ribonucleoprotein) with gene gun/particle bombardment methods. Students will learn and practice the new genome-editing technologies. We hope to engage more students from UH ����ԴDz� and other campuses, including community colleges, in food and agricultural careers for our future food security and quality.”

Certain genes influence people’s risk of obesity, but many aspects of their lives interact with those genes, and these interactions over a lifetime can drive people’s body mass index (BMI) further up or down. That’s according to by public health researchers at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa in the Myron. B. Thompson School of Social Work.

For the study, researchers led by Mika Thompson, a UH Mānoa public health graduate research assistant, used data from about 6,700 participants in the ongoing Health and Retirement Study, which includes samples of black and white men and women in the U.S. who are older than age 50.

Thompson and his co-authors looked at certain factors of people’s lives that they can control, such as alcohol use, smoking and physical activity, and factors that they could not control, such as the income level of their family during their childhood. In addition, saliva samples were collected from participants to test their DNA.

“Our findings reinforce the importance of physical activity among people with an elevated genetic risk for obesity,” Thompson said.

Among white women who had the highest genetic risk for obesity, the BMI of those who engaged in vigorous physical activity was 1.66 points (about 10 pounds) lower, on average, compared with those who did not engage in physical activity. The effect was less pronounced among white women with lower genetic risk.

“The association found in this study by Thompson further supports the statement that your zip code is a greater predictor of your health outcome than your genetic code,” said Lola Irvin, administrator of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division in the �鶹��ý State Department of Health, who was not involved in conducting the study. “The opportunities and choices in one’s community for physical activity, such as sidewalks, bike lanes and recreational facilities, are not determined by individual choice, but by policies and systems decisions.”

Genetic risk score

Researchers have identified thousands of genetic variations that have been linked to BMI, however, these individual variations explain only a small amount of people’s obesity risk. In the new study, the researchers took a different approach and used a calculation to create a genetic risk score based on many genetic variations that increase or decrease a person’s obesity risk. They broke down their results by race, sex and age.

Factors such as diet and exercise influence obesity risk. Moreover, research shows that these genes interact with factors in a person’s environment.

“The association between people’s genetic risk for obesity and their BMI became weaker as people aged,” said Catherine Pirkle, an associate professor with the Office of Public Health Studies and a co-author on the paper. “This suggests genetic risk for obesity becomes less influential in older adulthood.”

Other findings suggest links between BMI and alcohol consumption, and BMI and childhood socioeconomic status. The researchers will further investigate these results in future research.

Most research to date on the genes linked to obesity have come from studies of people in Europe. More research is needed to better measure genetic risk in diverse samples from the U.S. and other world regions.

“The new findings may help to improve approaches to helping people to lower their BMI during their older adulthood years,” Pirkle said.

Thompson and Pirkle’s co-authors on the paper include Office of Public Health Studies Fadi Youkhana, a graduate assistant, and Yan Yan Wu, an associate professor.

Scientists at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� have developed a technique for measuring the amount of living coral on a reef by analyzing DNA in small samples of seawater. The new research by Patrick Nichols, a graduate student in the marine biology graduate program, and Peter Marko, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, was published in .

Underwater visual surveys are used widely in coral reef ecology and are an important part of any coral reef monitoring program. However, visual surveys are typically conducted using SCUBA diving, which can be both time-consuming and logistically challenging.

As an efficient complement to visual surveys, the analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA), DNA sloughed or expelled from organisms into the environment, has been used to assess species diversity, primarily in aquatic environments. The technique takes advantage of the fact that all organisms constantly shed DNA into the environment, leaving behind a genetic residue that can be detected and analyzed with molecular biology tools.

Despite the growing use of eDNA to catalog the presence and absence of species, a reliable link between the abundance of organisms and the quantity of DNA has remained elusive. In their paper, Nichols and Marko demonstrate that this new method tested on coral reefs in �鶹��ý is a quick and cost-effective way to measure live coral “cover,” the amount of a coral reef occupied by living corals. Because corals facilitate the presence of many other species on a reef, coral cover is one of several important measuring sticks that scientists use to characterize the status of a reef, an urgent task on reefs that are declining worldwide as a consequence of global climate change.

“It still amazes me that in a tiny tube of water, there is enough information to track the relative abundance of entire communities,” said Nichols. “Increasing the breadth and scope of surveys is exactly what makes the future of eDNA so exciting!”

“Metabarcoding”

The project used “metabarcoding,” a technique in which all of the DNA in a water sample is analyzed in one step with DNA sequencing. Coral DNA sequences are then identified and counted to determine the abundances of different types of corals at each reef. Degraded reefs have very little coral eDNA whereas reefs with more living corals have a much stronger coral eDNA signature.

The authors explain in their paper that this new technique can be used to track changes in coral reef health and community composition over time, as well as detect rare species that can otherwise be missed by traditional visual-based survey methods.

“If you asked me 10 years ago if this was possible, I would have said, ‘No way,’” said Marko. “But advances in technology and falling costs of highly-sensitive DNA sequencing methods have opened the door to all kinds of important ecological questions.”

The researchers are currently applying what they learned from the project to the most compelling applications of eDNA monitoring in communities that are much more difficult to visually assess, such as deep reefs that provide potential refuge from climate change for temperature-sensitive species.

At the , biologist and her students are developing genetic technologies, that work as mosquito birth control, to help control invasive mosquitoes in �鶹��ý.

“The project that they’re working on right now is starting the process to evaluate and also develop new emerging technologies for controlling invasive mosquitoes here in �鶹��ý,” said Sutton. “My undergraduate students in our class are learning how to genetically engineer or genetically modify mosquitoes.”

Jared Nishimoto, a graduate student in the tropical conservation biology and environmental science program who is training undergraduates, explains that students conduct the process by lining up mosquito eggs on a microscope slide for microinjections.

“We have a very small, almost microscopic needle where we pierce the eggs and inject a solution with a certain gene of interest that we want to be integrated and expressed into the mosquitoes,” said Nishimoto.

Mosquito vector diseases are not something that native species in �鶹��ý have ever experienced in their evolutionary histories.

“And so particularly our native bird species have never had any selective pressures, they’ve never had any opportunities to develop an immune response to the types of diseases that mosquitoes vector,” said Sutton.

Students are excited because they are learning new cutting-edge technologies that can help them get jobs in fields like biotechnology and conservation.

“But our students are also really excited about this type of research because of the impacts that it could have to the local community here in �鶹��ý,” said Sutton.

The video was produced by Leah Sherwood, a graduate student in the tropical conservation biology and environmental science program at UH Hilo. The videographer is Raiatea Arcuri, a professional photographer majoring in business at UH Hilo.

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Jennifer Doudna, a pioneer in genome editing, will open the Rose and Raymond Tseng Distinguished Lecture Series on September 17 in the University of �鶹��ý at Hilo’s . This event is open to the public.

Doudna is an internationally renowned professor of chemistry and molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Doudna and her colleagues developed CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)-Cas9, a genome editing technology that enables scientists to edit the DNA of any organism on an unprecedented scale for a minimal cost. She will discuss her work at her talk, “CRISPR Systems: Nature’s Toolkit for Genome Editing.”

This breakthrough technology has redefined the possibilities for human and non-human applications of gene editing. It has opened up and accelerated the development of new genetic surgeries to cure disease, and provided novel ways to care for the environment and nutritious foods for a growing global population that is challenged by climate change.

As the public considers ethical questions surrounding the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology, Doudna has been at the forefront of the global debate on its use. She is the co-author of A Crack in Creation, which details the discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 and warns of the enormous responsibility that comes with the ability to rewrite the genetic code of life and possibly control evolution.

Rose and Raymond Tseng Distinguished Lecture Series

The Rose and Raymond Tseng Distinguished Lecture is an initiative supported by an endowed fund started by UH Hilo Chancellor Emerita Rose Tseng. The lecture series is intended to continue �鶹��ý’s dialogue with the rest of the world in areas including local entrepreneurship, international women’s leadership, global technology, the integration of science and culture, and indigenous language/cultural issues.

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