For more than 70 years, the Army Corps has managed Lake Okeechobee without consideration for the health of those impacted in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds and further south in Florida Bay. As a result, Floridians and their pets have been exposed to an array of serious near-term health threats. Additionally, researchers have linked toxins in discharged lakewater to increased long-term risks of liver failure, ALS, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease.

In our upcoming Clean Water Conversation, we’re offering the public a chance to converse candidly with harmful algal bloom (HAB) experts Dr. Walter Bradley and Dr. James Metcalf. We know Floridians have many concerns about Lake Okeechobee releases exposing people to dangerously high levels of toxins. Now is your chance to seek answers from medical researchers who have dedicated their careers to understanding and communicating these dangers more effectively. 

Come ready with your questions! In an effort to make this the most interactive Clean Water Conversation yet, we will focus the majority of our time on communicating your questions directly to our featured guests. CLICK HERE to visit our Facebook event page to let us know that you’re coming!

Friends of the Everglades will live stream the conversation directly to our Facebook page at 12 noon on July 16th. Help us spread the word by sharing this invitation to your friends and neighbors. If you have been enjoying these Clean Water Conversations and would like to help us fund this particular one, we thank you, and welcome you to make a donation today.

Walter G. Bradley, D.M.F.R.C.P.
Medical Director

Dr. Walter Bradley is Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Neurology of the  University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Bradley has an international reputation for his contributions to the fields of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, peripheral neuropathies, inflammatory myopathies and muscular dystrophy. He has received grant monies exceeding $10 million from the National Institutes of Health, foundations and pharmaceutical companies.

Awarded the D.M. degree from Oxford University, Bradley was appointed foundation professor of experimental neurology in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He served as vice chairman of the Department of Neurology at Tufts-New England Medical Center, chairman of the Department of Neurology in the University of Vermont and chairman of the Department of Neurology of the University of Miami.

Bradley is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and board certified in neurology and psychiatry. He is a member and former counselor of the American Neurological Association and a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. James S. Metcalf began working at the Institute for Ethnomedicine in January 2013. Dr. Metcalf obtained a Joint Honours BSc in Marine Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Wales, Bangor. He subsequently completed a PhD at the University of Dundee in 2000 researching the immunodetection of cyanobacterial toxins. 

He has continued to examine various aspects of cyanobacterial toxins through Post-doctoral Fellowships at the University of Dundee, involving multinational projects on cyanotoxins throughout Europe, until 2006. 

Since that time he has continued an active collaboration with Prof. Geoffrey Codd of the University of Dundee. His current research interests include the analytical, toxicological and molecular biological assessment of cyanobacterial toxins, in particular the neurotoxic amino acid, β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA).