As director of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's fish health and disease diagnostic labs at Pine Bluff and Lonoke, Grace Ramena oversees Extension/outreach services such as fish disease diagnosis and fish health checkups available to fish farmers in Arkansas and the Southern region.
"We also provide additional services such as pond water quality analysis, phytoplankton and zooplankton identifications, algal identification and microbial analysis in fish and pond water," she said. "These regular services are a part of a disease-prevention Extension program that has an economic impact on the aquaculture industry."
Ramena said she and her staff closely interact with farmers during fish health workshops and through collaborative fish disease prevention studies. Additionally, they work with 4-H Extension personnel in Lonoke and Pine Bluff to educate youths on fish health and get them interested in pursuing educational and career opportunities in aquaculture.
"Among the many women in the Extension service, I am honored to serve fish farmers with fish health and disease diagnostics and several other Extension programs at UAPB that have an economic impact," she said. "I also enjoy conducting cutting-edge research that provides solutions to fish diseases responsible for tremendous financial losses in the aquaculture industry."
Her primary research goal is to replace antibiotics in treating bacterial infections in fish. Although antibiotic treatments are effective, their use in fish production is under scrutiny as the number of bacterial strains resistant to drugs is ever-increasing, she said. This poses a great risk as resistant bacterial strains are potentially transferred to humans and the environment.
Ramena is currently investigating the use of bacterial cell wall degrading peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs) as safe antimicrobials to treat streptococcosis, a disease that affects nearly 30 fish species. This research is funded through U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture programs, including the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative and 1890 Institution Teaching, Research and Extension Capacity Building Grants.
"We also have research collaborations with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to study human infectious diseases," Ramena said. "Additionally, I am developing rapid diagnostic kits for multiple flavobacterium species that cause great losses to the aquaculture industry. All the research studies we conduct are possible because of my excellent collaborators across the nation – the USDA Agricultural Research Service, several other academic institutions and partners in the aquaculture industry."
Ramena said she is honored and privileged to make a difference in the lives of students who are next-generation scientists. She currently mentors several undergraduate, graduate and high school students in fish health and molecular science via the research projects conducted in the lab.
She has a doctorate in medical microbiology immunology and cell biology from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, a master's degree in biology from the University of Illinois at Springfield and a master's degree in aquaculture from Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur, India.
Originally from Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, Ramena started her career working as a fish and shrimp pathologist for multinational company CP Aquaculture. She served farmers through several Extension programs that included fish and shrimp health certifications, as well as microbiology, water quality, soil and pond management strategies and treatments.
Prior to joining UAPB, Ramena was a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis.
"My mother, my friend, Santhi, and my family significantly influenced me in my early education choices," Ramena said. "Later in life, my best friend and husband not only influenced, but also supported me in all the seasons of my career. I wouldn't be able to achieve all that I have without my collaborators and the support and prayers of my pastor, family and daughter."
Will Hehemann is a writer/editor at the UAPB School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences.