معرفی
Michael Janech is an Associate Professor at the College of Charleston holding the SC SmartState Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Health Education. His research bridges marine biology and human medicine through proteomics, with primary appointments in the Biology Department and adjunct faculty status at the Medical University of South Carolina's Department of Medicine. He serves on the Science Board of Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston.
His research focuses on comparative proteomics and metaproteomics to investigate biomarkers of disease in both humans and marine mammals, with particular emphasis on osmoregulation mechanisms and kidney function. Key projects include the NIH/NIDDK R15-funded UROCUP program (collaborating with Ochsner Medical Center, NIST, and University of Arkansas) where undergraduates analyze urinary casts in acute kidney injury, and leadership in NIST's multi-institutional COMPARE project characterizing mammalian proteome adaptations.
Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals a dominant research trajectory in urinary biomarker discovery (70% of works), particularly for acute kidney injury diagnostics using cast proteomics, alongside significant contributions to marine mammal toxicology (20%) studying domoic acid effects in sea lions, and wildlife immunology (10%) examining bat pathogen responses. His work consistently integrates mass spectrometry with clinical and ecological applications.
- SC SmartState Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Health Education
Janech mentors undergraduate researchers through the UROCUP program and collaborates extensively with medical centers and federal laboratories. His laboratory receives sustained NIH funding for translational kidney research while contributing to national standardization efforts in ocean metaproteomics through NIST partnerships. He teaches foundational biology courses including BIOL 111 (Cell and Molecular Biology) and independent research courses.
His laboratory maintains active collaborations with Hollings Marine Laboratory for marine specimen analysis and with nephrology departments for clinical urinary biomarker validation. Current work focuses on refining urinary cast proteomics for point-of-care kidney injury diagnostics and expanding marine mammal disease surveillance networks.
