# Prevention of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in Subsistence Shellfish Harvest Communities of Southeast Alaska

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $28,608

## Abstract

SUMMARY ABSTRACT
 Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is a serious illness that disproportionately affects Alaska Native
communities. Sitka Tribe of Alaska has organized an environmental monitoring program and seafood safety
testing program along with other regional partners (called SEATOR: Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research)
to reduce the burden of PSP disease in Southeast Alaska. This grant seeks to augment SEATOR's ongoing
efforts, through additional data collection and partnerships with the Sitka School District and Emory University.
Collecting additional years of PSP toxin monitoring data using the same protocols as today will allow a time-
series analysis to inform a cutting-edge forecasting model that will give Southeast Alaska residents warning of
especially risky subsistence shellfish harvest times, and thereby prevent poisonings. Collecting new data on
specific kinds of PSP toxins (rather than only measuring the presence or absence of any PSP toxin) can clarify
which other settings around the world are most similar (e.g., by comparing toxin profiles). This is important
because PSP is a global health problem and there are other locations that could benefit from an informative
prediction model, or that might be able to provide useful information for developing this region's model.
SEATOR will continue training members of the community via workshops on how to collect and process
samples per the citizen science framework of the ongoing work. This project also includes planned K12
educational interventions to target PSP prevention messages to youth at particular risk of PSP toxicity, while
also promoting science education and traditional lifeways. This project is fully community-based participatory
research (CBPR) building on existing tribal organization programs, with employment and skills-training
opportunities for members of the community, to meet community-prioritized needs and to address this health
disparity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10163845
- **Project number:** 5R01ES029165-03
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew O. Gribble
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $28,608
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-13 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10163845

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10163845, Prevention of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in Subsistence Shellfish Harvest Communities of Southeast Alaska (5R01ES029165-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10163845. Licensed CC0.

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