Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Phone: (228) 872-4294

Fax: (228) 872-4204

joe.griffitt@usm.edu

Position:

Assistant Professor - Department of Coastal Sciences, USM
Postdoctoral Research Associate - Center for

Education:

INSTITUTION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDY

UNC Wilmington B.S. 1993-1997 Marine Biology

University of South Carolina M.S. 2000-2002 Marine Science

University of South Carolina C.A.S 2003-2005 Statistics

University of South Carolina Ph.D. 2002-2006 Environ. Health Sciences

University of Florida Post-doc 2006-2008 Nanotoxicology

Research Interests:

The main interest of my laboratory centers around the study of the effect of anthropogenic contaminant on aquatic organisms. We focus on molecular approaches, aimed at identifying the precise cellular and molecular pathways that are affected by different contaminants. Specific research projects address:

the effects of nanoparticulate metals on marine and freshwater fish
Application of molecular tools for assesment of ecosystem health
Isolation and characterization of miRNA expression patterns in non-model species

Professional Affiliations:

Society of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology (SETAC)

Society of Toxicology

Publications:

Griffitt, RJ, K. Hyndman, ND Denslow, DS Barber. 2009. Comparison of molecular and histological changes in zebrafish gills exposed to metallic nanoparticles. Tox. Sci. 107(2) 404-415.

Garcia-Reyero^#, N, Griffitt^#, RJ, L Liu, KJ Kroll, WG Farmerie, DS Barber, and ND Denslow. 2008. Construction of a robust microarray from a non-model species (Largemouth Bass) using pyrosequencing technology. Journal of Fish Biology 72, 2354-2376. ^# denotes shared first authorship

Griffitt, RJ, J Liu, J Gao, CW Bonzango, and DS Barber. 2008. Acute toxicity of metallic nanoparticles to aquatic organisms. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 27(9), 1972-1978.

Griffitt, RJ, RW Weil, K. Hyndman, K Powers, ND Denslow, and DS Barber. 2007. Exposure to copper nanoparticles induce gill injury and acute lethality in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Environ. Sci. and Toxicol. 41, 8178-8196.

Griffitt, RJ, TL Greig, GT Chandler, and JM Quattro. 2007. Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) reveals identifiable patterns in transcriptome profiles of Palaemonetes pugio exposed to three common environmental stressors. Environ. Toxicol. and Chem. 26(11), 2413-2419.

Griffitt, RJ, GT Chandler, T.W. Greig, and JM Quattro. 2006. Cathepsin B and Glutathione Peroxidase show differing transcriptional responses in the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio following exposure to three xenobiotics. Environ. Sci. and Toxicol. 40, 3640-3645.

Staton JL, Schizas NV, Klosterhaus SL, Griffitt RJ, Chandler GT, Coull BC. 2002. Effect of salinity variation and pesticide exposure on an estuarine harpacticoid copepod, Microarthridion littorale (Poppe 1881), in the southeastern US. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 278(2): 99-108.

Griffitt, J, M Posey, and T Alphin. 1999. Effects of edge fragmentation on oyster reef utilization by transient nekton. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 99(2). 98-102.

Patents/Licenses:

License to EcoArray -- 13,000 largemouth bass genes for microarray analysis, Nancy Denslow, David Barber, Robert J Griffitt, and Natalia Garcia-Reyero. June 2007.

Research Support:

Determination of effects of long-term exposure to sublethal concentrations of metallic nanomaterials on zebrafish. $73,190. Subaward from University of Florida from NSF grant number XXXX. 2009-2011.