CEE Seminar Metagenomics, Mpox, Malaria – Tracking Pathogens in Wastewater

Microbial water contamination remains a significant public health burden globally. Simultaneously, wastewater-associated pathogens have become a critical public health monitoring tool via wastewater-based surveillance (WBS). Molecular (i.e., DNA- or RNA-based) methods such as qPCR, digital PCR, and metagenomics have a critical role in contributing to water quality monitoring and WBS. I will begin this talk by discussing our group’s contributions to metagenomic methods for water quality monitoring, including developing quantitative metagenomic methods and employing metagenomics to develop a new viral fecal indicator, crAssphage. I will then discuss our group’s work on WBS, including initial developments for COVID-19 and recent efforts on novel disease targets, including MPox and malaria.
Dr. Kyle Bibby is a Professor and Associate Department Chair at the University of Notre Dame in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. He completed his BS in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Yale University, and he was previously a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh. He has previously won multiple professional awards, including the NSF CAREER award and an ISI-Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. Dr. Bibby currently leads several research projects centered around understanding microbiology relevant to protecting and improving human health and environmental quality, including the NSF Research Coordination Network on wastewater disease monitoring.