Grantee Research Project Results
Development of a Wastewater Hierarchical Sentinel Site Identification for Future Pandemic Surveillance Systems
EPA Grant Number: R840487Title: Development of a Wastewater Hierarchical Sentinel Site Identification for Future Pandemic Surveillance Systems
Investigators: Nguyen, Thanh (Helen) H. , Smith, Rebecca , Schmidt, Arthur , Keefer, Laura , Jutla, Antarpreet , Unnikrishnan, Avinash , Galan, Deise
Current Investigators: Nguyen, Thanh (Helen) H. , Jutla, Antarpreet , Smith, Rebecca , Schmidt, Arthur , Keefer, Laura , Unnikrishnan, Avinash , Galan, Deise
Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign , University of Florida , Portland State University , National Association of County and City Health Officials
Current Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign , Portland State University , University of Florida , National Association of County and City Health Officials
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2025
Project Amount: $1,000,000
RFA: National Priorities: Innovative Sampling Designs for Public Health Surveillance of Coronaviruses and Other Pathogens in Wastewater Request for Applications (RFA) (2022) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Engineering , Water
Description:
Future pandemics will require that wastewater surveillance be deployed quickly and effectively. While a pandemic or epidemic is global or national, pathogen transmission is local. We will develop a hierarchical sentinel site identification system based on accurate predictions of infection risk levels at various spatial resolution levels. We hypothesize that identifying wastewater sentinel sites for pathogen monitoring can be developed based on integrated analysis of data streams for weather, human mobility, healthcare, civil infrastructure, population density, socio-demographics, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. We also hypothesize that the sentinel sites should be identified hierarchically from the county, city/town/village, to building level depending on pathogen transmission characteristics.
Objective:
Working closely with local departments of public health partners, we plan to achieve the following. Objective 1: Develop optimal sampling strategies for wastewater monitoring networks for the detection of emerging pandemic pathogens; Objective 2: Develop and test a framework for adapting the wastewater monitoring strategies based on characteristics of the pathogen, its infection, transmission processes, and target populations; Objective 3: Develop a secure data management platform to provide actionable wastewater monitoring information to public health officials and utilities for pandemic control.
Approach:
We will work with local public health departments as partners to develop and test the proposed hierarchical sentinel site identification systems. Specifically, Objective 1 will develop a forecasting model for pathogen transmission based on weather, human mobility, healthcare, and civil infrastructure, population density, and socio-demographic factors. This model will be calibrated based on existing COVID-19 data for county-scale and 1 km by 1 km risk prediction. In Objective 2, we will further refine this model for finer scale (neighborhood and building level) to capture local pathogen transmission by working with local public health officials to identify sentinel sites for pathogen monitoring. The model with finer scale will be calibrated using the wastewater monitoring and human testing data. We will test the proposed sentinel wastewater sites through the two-year monitoring of SARS-CoV2, common cold coronavirus, influenza viruses, and antimicrobial resistant genes. The platform developed in Objective 3 will take data from these partnerships to produce reports and maps that can be used for external-facing dashboards and more detailed analyses for decision-makers.
Expected Results:
This project is expected to result in (1) a transmission forecasting model for wastewater monitoring, (2) a tested hierarchical system for sentinel site identification, and (3) a secure platform for data storage and analysis.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 3 publications for this projectJournal Articles:
Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 3 journal articles for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
wastewater, virus, pathogen, infection, risk, secured data platformProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.