Associate Professor
Senior Research Scientist
knobloch.1@osu.edu
614-292-4168
Website
I originally trained in graduate school as a natural scientist using phylogenetics and taxonomic-systematics as tools for defining (re-defining) species relationships in North American Cyprinidae (that’s minnows to most of the world). These studies transitioned into taxonomic characterization of Bacillariophyta (diatoms) in fresh water system in Northern Ohio, especially those consumed by algivorous minnows. Eventually this path lead to work with Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) investigating the invasive species Petromyzon marinus, the sea lamprey, and the control measures in the Great Lakes’ tributaries.
Most recently I have embarked on two newly emerging fields of intense concern.
First, a topic of emphasis by the CDC and EPA is the role harmful algal blooms (HABs) on human health. My interest in this area is determining if dietary black raspberry interventions can reduce tumor incidence and multiplicity (burden) during cyanotoxin-mediated liver cancer promotion.
Second, a national health crisis exsists for firefighters, who have career-long exposures to numerous combustion-associated carcinogens and occupational stressors. The leading cause of deaths in firefighters is in flux between cardiac/cardiovascular events and occupation-associated cancers, including lung cancer. Nutritional interventions leveraging specific functional food components can be used to mediate these stressors (proinflammatory cytokines, oxidative damage, non-resolving inflammation) in this high at-risk population. Or at least that’s the idea.
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