Hawaii Community Foundation (2024)

Box Jellyfish Feel the Sting of Medical Research

You never know where life is going to lead you. Seventeen years ago, a casual swim in the ocean turned into an almost fatal experience for Dr. Angel Yanagihara when she was stung multiple times by a swarm of Hawaiian box jellyfish off the coast of Waikīkī. Dr. Yanigahara's painful encounter motivated her to research and identify the debilitating and sometimes lethal toxin in box jellyfish venom and develop an antidote gel to prevent severe jellyfish stings.

University of Hawaii at Manoa Assistant Research Professor Angel Yanagihara.

Having a great idea is one thing, making it a reality is quite another. "My sting prompted me to write a proposal to the Hawai'i Community Foundation to study these animals," says Yanagihara, an assistant research professor affiliated with the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Pacific Biosciences Research Center and the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).

HCF's Medical Research grant program supports basic and clinical research conducted in Hawai'i, through annual grantmaking. The overall goal of the program is to support a robust local medical research community that benefits the people of Hawai'i. The funds have a positive economic impact throughout the medical research and local business communities.

Our Hawaiian Box Jellyfish Venom grant has been funding Yanagihara's research for six non-consecutive years, totaling $350,000. The preliminary data from the research conducted by Yanagihara and her team has been instrumental in helping to secure additional federal grants of nearly $3.5 million. "The longstanding HCF funding sustained this work during the lean years between federal funding," adds Yanagihara. "Kudos to HCF for their commitment to local research and local researchers!"

The Medical Research grant program is supported by the George F. Straub Trust, the Victoria S. and Bradley L. Geist Foundation, and multiple funds at HCF. Award recommendations are made by the Medical Research Advisory Committee made up of local experts in the medical field.

The ripple effect of these research grants was felt beyond the shores of Hawai'i when Dr. Angel Yanagihara joined the team that helped swimmer Diana Nyad complete her record-setting journey from Cuba to Key West, Florida in September 2013. "We were fortunate to have the world's expert on these jellies with us. [She] has developed a green gel that greatly mitigates these stings," says Nyad.

More recently, Dr. Yanagihara has been asked to assist biologists in Ireland with finding an antidote to the sting of a Lion's mane jellyfish, which is local to Ireland.

Schools of the Future

Schools of the Future, an initiative of the Hawai'i Community Foundation and the Hawai'i Association of Independent Schools, distributed $5 million in grants between 2009 and 2014 to help schools in Hawai'i move into the 21st century. The impetus for transforming how teachers teach and how students learn is based on a recognition that future graduates need to have different skills to succeed going forward. Among these, the ability to think critically, communicate well, be creative, and work collaboratively. While most people think of technology as the answer, SOTF incorporated technology as a means, not an end, to the type of transformation that is underway. The SOTF process was organized around professional learning communities made up of teachers and administrators, and the initiative has captured national attention for its results.

Independent evaluations reported measurable impacts for both teachers and their students:

• Guidelines were developed to help other schools foster change in their own settings, based on reports of grantees.
• 90% of participating teachers improved their effectiveness.
• 80% of teachers reported a positive impact on students.
• Student engagement was described as higher.
• New methods and use of technology allowed students different learning experiences.
• Teachers incorporated the learning of skills not just content, as instructional goals.
• Teachers used more diverse pedagogies.

As word of its success has spread, this year's Schools of the Future conference is being co-sponsored by the Hawai'i Department of Education and is expected to attract nearly 1,000 teachers from public and private schools across Hawai'i. We are proud to have been a part of this successful initiative, and can't wait to see the ripple effect of investing in 21st century education.

Pillars of Peace Hawai'i

Representatives of The Elders, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, civil rights activist Hina Jilani of Pakistan, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, were recently in Honolulu at the invitation of Pillars of Peace Hawai'i, an initiative of the Hawai'i Community Foundation, supported by the Omidyar 'Ohana Fund. The Elders is an independent group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007.

Over a three-day period, nearly 1,500 enthusiastic students, community and business leaders, along with members of the public, joined The Elders in a variety of sessions, including the Hawai'i Leadership Forum Program, Student Leaders Program, Dignitary Luncheon, Public Talk, and Hawaiian & Environmental Leaders Roundtable.

During their time on O'ahu, The Elders visited Bishop Museum and 'Iolani Palace to learn more about Hawai'i's history and culture. The Hawaiian ideals of cultural tolerance and shared identity clearly resonated with the invited speakers.

"We really want to promote humaneness, and there is a great deal of it here, where you see people of so many different ethnic backgrounds cohering in the kind of way it seems to be happening," Tutu said. "We should call the Ukrainians and the Russians, "Just come and see how people from different backgrounds are able to cohere as a community."

On October 9 HIKI NŌ, the nation's first student news network, aired its story about The Elders' visit on PBS Hawaii.

To learn more about Pillars of Peace visit pillarsofpeacehawaii.org.