草莓污视频导航

Sept. 19, 2023

Operation of award-winning COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program transitions to public health authorities

Monitoring activities handed off, but expanded research and data sharing will continue
The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program in action.
The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program in action. Riley Brandt, Erin O鈥機onnor, and ACWA files

After three years of research impact, national attention, and remarkable public uptake, continued operation of the joint 草莓污视频导航 and University of Alberta COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program has been handed off to Alberta Health and Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL).

The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program, led at 草莓污视频导航 by researchers from the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), Faculty of Science, Schulich School of Engineering and聽聽(ACWA,) has been testing wastewater for early signs of COVID-19 cases since June 2020.

鈥淲e are exceptionally proud of the researchers, staff and trainees who created and operated the COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program,鈥 says Dr. William Ghali, vice-president (research). 鈥淭hey went above and beyond to offer a public service during an unprecedented time, and the impact of their research and knowledge mobilization efforts has been significant.鈥

The province鈥檚 decision to transfer COVID-19 monitoring to public health authorities validates the success of the research and its value to Albertans. Alberta Health and APL will continue to monitor for COVID-19 in Alberta鈥檚 wastewater, and their data will be shared on the operated by the Centre for Health Informatics (CHI) at the CSM.

Michael Parkins, Casey Hubert and Kevin Frankowski led the COVID-19 wastewater monitoring project.

Michael Parkins, Casey Hubert and Kevin Frankowski led the COVID-19 wastewater monitoring project.

Adrian Shellard

鈥淭his is the end of a chapter for our team, but we achieved our goals and also developed a platform that we will continue to grow,鈥 says Kevin Frankowski, executive director of ACWA.

鈥淲hen we started this program, it was our goal to develop something useful to Calgarians with the potential for growth and broader application than just COVID-19. We鈥檙e proud to have achieved it, and to have been a source of reliable information for so many Albertans over the past three years.鈥

鈥淲e wanted to use our expertise to develop solutions to the complex challenge of detecting and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in our community,鈥 says Dr. Casey Hubert, PhD, a professor in the Faculty of Science specializing in environmental microbiology.

鈥淭he testing that we handed off to the province is efficient, effective, and uses cutting-edge approaches that we deployed here in Calgary.鈥

草莓污视频导航鈥檚 team will continue to advance wastewater monitoring science, and routine bi-weekly Influenza and RSV data will continue to be reported in real time on the COVID tracker.

鈥淥ur team is advancing the science looking at other respiratory and transmissible viruses, bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance and substances of potential abuse,鈥 says Dr. Michael Parkins, MD, professor in the CSM and infectious disease specialist.

鈥淲e believe strongly in the potential of wastewater monitoring, and we鈥檙e excited to see where this research will take us next.鈥

Looking back on the past three years, the team is pleased with what they have accomplished and are grateful for the community support.

Tyler Williamson presents the COVID-19 Tracker website to a group of delegates

Tyler Williamson presents the COVID-19 Tracker website to a group of delegates from VPS Health.

Katrina Ghali

鈥淭he amount of support that we鈥檝e received from the university and communities across the province has been incredible,鈥 says Dr. Tyler Williamson, PhD, director of the CHI. 鈥淲e are so honoured to be able to provide this information to Albertans.鈥

The impact goes beyond the 60,000 community members checking the tracker each month and relying on it as a decision-making tool. The 草莓污视频导航 COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program also employed 37 people, including training 22 undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs. The researchers also did dozens of interviews for local, provincial and national newscasts.

In addition to the day-to-day work of monitoring and real-time reporting, the group has also published several research papers, in publications including Water Research, Science of the Total Environment, and the flagship journal of the US Centres for Disease Control Emerging Infectious Diseases. The team also received the 2022 ASTech Award for Excellence in Health Research, and a Peak Scholars in COVID-19 Innovation Excellence Award in 2021 for their accomplishments.

鈥淭he success of this project wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without the input and contributions of our partner organizations and municipalities,鈥 says Frankowski. 鈥淭he University of Alberta, The City of Calgary, The City of Edmonton, Alberta Health Services, Alberta Health, APL, Epcor, and municipalities across the province. We鈥檙e grateful for everyone who got involved.鈥

Casey Hubert聽is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Faculty of Science and Campus Alberta Innovates Program Chair in Geomicrobiology.

Michael Parkins is a professor in the departments of Medicine, and Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Cumming School of Medicine.聽He is聽a member of the聽.

Tyler Williamson is an associate professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine and a member of the O鈥橞rien Institute of Public Health and the聽.

聽(ACWA) is a globally unique test bed and research facility where researchers, municipalities and industry can de-risk wastewater treatment and monitoring technologies. It is a partnership between the 草莓污视频导航 and The City of Calgary, as part of the聽.

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