REU Site: Water, Society and Health

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This international REU Site award at the University of Virginia (UVA) is partnering with the University of Venda (UNIVEN) located in Limpopo Province, South Africa to host this REU Site program. This program will introduce undergraduate students to the complexities of research at the interface between society, water, and human health disciplines. Undergraduate students will collaborate with faculty and graduate students to develop, design, and test culturally appropriate systems and technologies with regard to technical performance, benefits to human health, and local economic development potential. Research activities will be at multiple scales, including: 1) the molecular and antigenic characterization of Cryptosporidium and Enteroaggregative E. coli; 2) quantification of the effects of silver and copper nanoparticles on Cryptosporidium using a murine model, a conventional live-dead assay enhanced through dielectrophoretic cell pre-construction, and through the development of a new assay based on electro-rotation; 3) randomized community-level interventions (with appropriate controls) for point-of-use water treatment technologies and studies of their economic impact and effects on human health; and 4) development and testing of an agent-based model (ABM) to better understand the complex relations between water, sanitation, and human health with particular consideration of early childhood diarrhea and malnutrition. This research will also leverage a newly awarded grant that focuses on the relations between gastrointestinal infection and malnutrition in the rural communities surrounding UNIVEN.REU student recruitment will focus on colleges without, or with only limited, graduate programs, including historically black colleges and universities in the state of Virginia. Students selected for the program will be placed in an interdisciplinary research team under the supervision of one or more of the principal investigators. Students will participate in team meetings via videoconferencing using Elluminate during the Spring and Fall semesters. Each student will participate in research activities during an 8-week period in Limpopo Province, S. Africa. Their summer experience will begin with a series of orientations with UVA and UNIVEN faculty and students. A doctoral student will serve as a coordinator and mentor for the undergraduate students throughout the summer. Student teams will be interdisciplinary by design, and will typically include REU students and UVA and UNIVEN undergraduates. Students will all reside in a gated facility of cottages where they will be able to share meals and experiences. During the Fall semester, students will be responsible for providing a written report of their research and giving an oral presentation via videoconferencing. REU students will be required to complete a 3-credit course at their home institution that is outside their major department but within the theme of the research program. The faculty team is diverse in discipline, race, and gender. Assessments of the overall program and student learning will be conducted for each student cohort.