Jason Ferrante

PhD Student 
Large Animal Clinical Science
Aquatic Animal Health
Expected year of graduation: 2014
Major advisor:  Jim Wellehan

ferrantej@ufl.edu

Education

• B.S. Marine Science and Biology, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, 2003
• M.S. Marine Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, 2010

Honors and Awards

• Slocum-Lunz Research Grant – Investigation of Interlukin-10 (IL-10) as a possible biomarker of domoic acid toxicosis in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). (2009; $800)

Current Research

I am interested in the use of proteomics to develop diagnostic tools for marine animal medicine. My current research explores proteins as potential biomarkers of head trauma and/or neurotoxicity in the Florida manatee.

Laboratory Experience

• Gel electrophoresis (2D-gels, Westerns, IEF, gel staining)
• Gel analysis software (SameSpots and PDQuest)
• ELISA/EIA optimization and use
• MALDI-TOF MS experience
• Cell culture (human cell lines)
• µ-injection
• Quality control and development of QC methods
• Lab management
• SOP and protocol development
• statistical software (MatLab, R, and SAS)
• MS Office and GIS software proficiency

Selected Presentations

• “Haptoglobin as a candidate biomarker of domoic acid toxicosis in California sea lions.”  International Symposium on Aquatic Animal Health, Tampa, FL, Poster presentation (2010)
• “Serum cytokines as predictors of domoic acid exposure in California sea lions, Zalophus californianus.”  The Society for Marine Mammalogy 18th Biennial Conference, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Oral presentation (2009)

Selected Publications

• Master’s Thesis: Discovery of Blood Protein Biomarkers of Domoic Acid Exposure in California Sea Lions, Zalophus californianus. (2010)
• Roger A. O’Neill, Arunashree Bhamidipati, Xiahui Bi, Debabrita Deb-Basu, Linda Cahill, Jason Ferrante, Erik Gentalen, Marc Glazer, John Gossett, Kevin Hacker, Celeste Kirby, James Knittle, Robert Loder, Catherine Mastroieni, Michael MacLaren, Thomas Mills, Uyen Nguyen, Nineveh Parker, Audie Rice, David Roach, Daniel Suich, David Voehringer, Karl Voss, Jade Yang, Tom Yang, and Peter B. Vander Horn. 2006. Isoelectric focusing technology quantifies protein signaling in 25 cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 103(44), pp. 16153–16158.