Biographical Sketch

Donal Manahan

Professor of Biological Sciences

Faculty Profile

Biography

Donal T. Manahan, Ph.D., holds the rank of Full Professor of Biological Sciences at The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. His research and teaching expertise is in organism-environment interactions, involving studies that span from some of the warmest to the coldest places on Earth. Specifically, he studies animal physiology and development, and biochemical strategies that link genotype to phenotype.

Education and Training:  His Bachelor’s degree in zoology is from Trinity College Dublin (The University of Dublin); his Ph.D. is from The University of Wales (Bangor, UK), where he studied the environmental physiology of animals. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California (Irvine campus) in physiology and developmental biology. He also studied developmental and molecular biology at The California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California).

Professional Service:  While a member of the faculty at USC, he has held various academic administrative positions, including: Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences; Director of the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies; Dean of Research in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences; Vice Dean for Students; University Marshal.

His National-level service includes:  Division Director, Biological Sciences, U.S. National Science Foundation; Chair of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Polar Research Board; Advisory committees and review panels to help set priorities in science, research, and education.

Honors and Awards (selected):  Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Appointed (lifetime) National Associate of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Appointed Honorary University Fellow, Bangor University, Wales, U.K.; Honored Lifetime Member Award, U.S. National Shellfisheries Association; Geographic feature in Antarctica named “Manahan Peak” in recognition of contributions to research and education.

Citizenship:  Donal T. Manahan is an Irish-born American Citizen.

Education

• Ph.D. Physiology & Marine Biology, Bangor University (Wales, United Kingdom)
• B.S. Zoology, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland

Description of Research

Research Keywords

Organism-environment interactions; Developmental physiology; Biochemical strategies of adaptation.

Research Specialties

GENERAL THEME — Environmental physiology and metabolism of animals.

SPECIFIC AREAS — Biology of early stages of marine animal development (larval forms); Strategies of biochemical adaptation to global environmental change; Biology of extreme environments (Antarctica; deep-sea hydrothermal vents); Biotechnological applications directed towards enhancing “Blue Food” yield and production (marine aquaculture).

Detailed Statement of Research Interests

Most animal species have a larval stage of development that is intermediate between the egg and the adult stages. For marine animals, the general question we address is how organisms interact with their environment. To address this complex question, we are studying genotype-environment-phenotype relationships. More specifically, we study how environmental change impacts the metabolic physiology of animal development and how genetic variation regulates growth and survival. These areas of study also include biotechnological applications directed towards enhancing “Blue Food” yield and production (marine aquaculture).

Examples of some recent publications on these topics, are:

Li, N., F.T.C Pan, A.W. Griffith, M.B. DellaTorre, and D.T. Manahan. 2023. Integration of physiological and gene expression analyses to reveal biomarkers for protein dynamic mechanisms regulating higher growth and survival among larval oyster families (Crassostrea gigas).  Aquaculture, 577, DOI: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.739918

Li, N., A.W. Griffith, and D.T. Manahan. 2023. Integrative biological analyses of responses to food deprivation reveal resilience mechanisms in sea urchin larvae.  Molecular Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/mec.17120

DellaTorre, Melissa B. and Donal T. Manahan, 2023. Increasing temperature results in higher allocation of energy to protein synthesis in sea urchin larvae (Lytechinus pictus). The Biological Bulletin, Vol. 244: 35-50 DOI: 10.1086/723369

Pan, Francis. T.C., Donal T. Manahan, and Dennis Hedgecock, 2023. Within-family variation in larval viability and growth is controlled by different genes: a case study with Crassostrea gigas. Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 704: 149-153 DOI: 10.3354/meps14243

DellaTorre, Melissa B., Francis T.C. Pan, Andrew W. Griffith, Ning Li, and Donal T. Manahan, 2022. Thermal sensitivities of respiration and protein synthesis differ among larval families of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas. Journal of Experimental Biology, jeb.244518 [https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/225/22/jeb244518/282884/Thermal-sensitivities-of-respiration-and-protein]

Pan, Francis T.C., Scott L. Applebaum, and Donal T. Manahan, 2021. Differing thermal sensitivities of physiological processes alter ATP allocation. Journal of Experimental Biology, jeb.233379 [https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/224/2/jeb233379/223429/Differing-thermal-sensitivities-of-physiological]