Advancing Next Generation DNA Sequencing for Water Quality Monitoring: Antibiotic Resistance and Opportunistic Pathogens

Amy Pruden is the W. Thomas Rice Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on bringing a microbial ecological perspective to understanding and advancing design and management of environmental systems. Her research, funded by The National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture, Water Research Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control focuses on advancing practical means of antibiotic resistance monitoring, mitigation, and risk assessment in wastewater, recycled water, and other water systems. Pruden is currently the Co-Principal Investigator with Peter Vikesland on a Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) grant with the goal of fostering interdisciplinary international collaboration towards identifying barriers to antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in wastewater, recycled water, and affected receiving environments, including surface water, groundwater, and distribution systems. She is also serving on two National Academy of Sciences Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committees: the Environmental Health Matters Initiative and the One Health Action Collaborative.  Previously she served on the NASEM committee on management of Legionella in Water Systems and co- authored a consensus report.  She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and currently serves as an Associate Editor of Environmental Science Technology. Pruden is the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering and the Paul L. Busch Award for innovation in water research.

This seminar will describe work of ongoing collaborations at VT exploring the promise of metagenomic DNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis as water quality assessment tools.  In particular, metagenomic sequencing can help to gain deep insight into microbial ecological processes at play in engineered water systems of importance to human health. In particular, the spread of antibiotic resistance is a complex societal problem calling for convergent science, with transdisciplinary integration of multiple disciplines and engagement with key stakeholders to identify innovative ways to keep antibiotics working for future generations. In particular, there is growing awareness of the importance of environmental sources of AR, such as sewage and manure, and corresponding need to develop environmental AR surveillance systems. Sewage monitoring has tremendous potential to address various public health issues and means to mitigate them.

This seminar has no suggested readings.

Flyer not yet available.

This seminar will be recorded on the Fralin YouTube channel.