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Our Science

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) offers a powerful, population-level approach to understanding and managing infectious disease risk. Microbial pathogens represent a major threat to human and animal health, being responsible for millions of infections and deaths worldwide each year. Yet how these pathogens behave, persist, and spread through wastewater systems and the wider environment remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to protect public and environmental health.

To address this challenge, we have developed a suite of advanced experimental and analytical tools that generate high-resolution data for detecting and monitoring human pathogens (viruses, bacteria, protozoa & fungi) across wastewater networks and environmental settings, including freshwater, estuarine, soil, and coastal systems. These tools enable us to track the origin, evolution, diversity, and fate of pathogen populations over time and across locations, both nationally and internationally.

Our WBE platform can be readily deployed to measure community infection dynamics for both common pathogens (such as COVID-19, norovirus, and hepatitis A/E) and emerging or rare threats (including MPox and avian influenza). Beyond infectious diseases, we use the same samples to monitor illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and heavy metals, delivering an integrated picture of chemical and biological pressures on public health.

Wastewater- and water-based surveillance provides an effective early warning system, supporting rapid public health responses, protecting healthcare settings, and informing the targeted deployment of vaccines and non-pharmaceutical interventions. Our data are also informing the development of evidence-based guidelines for assessing infection risks in recreational waters, beaches, and shellfish harvesting areas, helping to safeguard communities and the environment.

 

Our core skills 

  • Advanced pathogen detection: Developing and applying innovative tools to quantify human and animal pathogens in wastewater and environmental matrices.

  • Population-level surveillance: Measuring infection levels across livestock, healthcare, and community settings.

  • Environmental infectivity assessment: Determining pathogen survival, persistence, and infectivity in natural and engineered environments.

  • Environmental modelling: Predicting the movement and fate of pathogens and pollutants in river, estuarine, and coastal systems.

  • Data integration and intelligence: Combining wastewater data with syndromic and epidemiological datasets to generate actionable insights.

  • Risk assessment and guidance: Strengthening risk assessments for waterborne pathogens and chemical pollutants to support evidence-based decision-making.

  • Stakeholder collaboration and delivery: Working closely with public health agencies, regulators, utilities, industry, and communities to co-design, implement, and translate WBE solutions into policy and practice.

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