Advances in Algal Toxins: Honoring Professor Michael Quilliam on His 75th Birthday

Dear Colleagues,

Professor Michael (Mike) Quilliam is a prestigious organic analytical chemist who has established an extraordinary record in the field of environmental and food contaminants over many decades. Since 1987, he has worked at the National Research Council of Canada, where he is now Researcher Emeritus. He is one of the most highly respected researchers in the field of natural aquatic toxins, having led both the development of new testing methods for marine and freshwater toxins as well as for many years leading the work of the Biotoxin Metrology Team at NRC, who develop and prepare reference materials that are an essential component of regulatory compliance testing in laboratories worldwide. Mike was a key scientist in the late 1980s, following the famous incidents of human amnesic shellfish poisoning in Canada. His work resulted in the rapid elucidation of the causative compound (domoic acid) as well as the development of a robust detection method for the ongoing risk monitoring of shellfish, a method which remains in global regulatory programs to this day. He has also been responsible for countless other developments. Some examples are the first HILIC-MS method for PSP toxins, LC-MS methods for DSP toxins and their esters, and advances in the detection of emerging marine toxins such as azaspiracids and cyclic imines. Other developments include the use of NMR and mass spectrometry for quantitative analysis and the preparation of reference material solutions, new cyanotoxin detection methods and toxin findings, toxin biotransformation pathways, toxicological impacts, and the structural elucidation of novel toxins. He was also part of the team developing the post column oxidation LC-fluorescence method still used for regulatory monitoring of PSP toxins in Canada and other parts of the world.

This Special Issue celebrates the work of this pioneering researcher, trainer, educator and world-renowned expert chemist on the occasion of his 75th birthday. As such, we invite contributions from researchers in the field of natural aquatic toxins to help celebrate the impacts of Mike on our past, present, and future work. Specifically, we welcome contributions from those working on new detection methods for aquatic toxins, reports of new/emerging toxin analogues, reference material development or characterization, the impacts of toxins on aquatic organisms, as well as toxicology and human health risks. We seek to gather new research and review articles that are inspired by the legacy of Mike’s research and use this inspiration to develop ongoing research and development in the field of aquatic toxins. Knowledge regarding these toxins from wide-ranging techniques including chemical, functional and biological assays is welcomed, as well as the validation of such methods and the consequent regulatory/policy impacts such developments are likely to provide. We look forward to your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Ana Gago-Martínez
Dr. Andrew Turner
Guest Editors

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• marine and freshwater toxins
• detection methods
• validation
• novel toxin analogues
• reference materials
• harmful algae
• trophic interactions and health impacts