CAREER: An Integrated Research and Education Program to Advance Pathogen Detection and Quantitation

1552353 Weidhaas这项研究将通过开发和优化跟踪成百上千种水传播病原体的快速方法和开发确定水损害来源的统计工具，来改进环境管理工作和公共卫生保护。围绕分子生物学、环境微生物学和环境工程的界面提出了几个基础研究问题。此外，这项研究和教育计划预计将表明，学生对环境工程师的微生物学概念的理解和保持可以通过使用支持技术的互动学习模块来显著提高。这一综合研究和教育计划的目标是开发和验证定量微阵列，以同时检测环境样品中的数百种病原体、粪便指示菌和微生物来源跟踪标记。将综合基因芯片数据与粪便来源解析的统计方法相结合，将促进水保护科学的发展。快速、多目标的水质监测工具，可以同时指示粪便污染源，可以增强我们提供高质量水供应和重复使用水的能力。在开发和测试这一工具时，提出的变革性研究将：1)重新聚焦于病原体的水微生物安全监测，2)开发克服全基因组扩增偏差的严格方法，3)开发定量微阵列，以及4)开发水中粪便污染源解析的统计方法。拟议的定量微阵列将有助于快速和灵敏地确定各种介质(如水、处理后的废水和食品)中是否存在感染性病原体。这里提出的研究议程将：1)建立可重复和无偏倚的核酸浓缩、提取和放大的上游环境样品处理；2)开发用于从环境样品中检测核酸的定量微阵列和严格的质量控制方法；以及3)开发用于识别环境样品中粪便污染源的统计方法。这里提出的教育议程将为环境工程师开发、测试和传播基本微生物学概念的技术支持的主动学习模块。通过开发支持技术的、学生主动的学习模块，可以将这些新工具及其背后的概念广泛传播给不同级别的实践工程师、教育工作者和学生。首席调查员计划评估现有教学单元和管道的有效性，特别是对任职人数不足的群体。由于NSF-REU已经到位，而且部门资金可用，教育组成部分的可行性很高。

1552353 Weidhaas This research will improve environmental stewardship efforts and public health protection by developing and optimizing a rapid method for tracking hundreds of waterborne pathogens and developing statistical tools for identifying the source of water impairment. Several basic research questions surrounding the interface of molecular biology, environmental microbiology, and environmental engineering are proposed. Additionally, this research and education program is expected to show that student understanding and retention of microbiology concepts for environmental engineers can be measurably improved using technology-enabled, interactive learning modules. The objective of this integrated research and education program is to develop and validate quantitative microarrays for simultaneously detecting hundreds of pathogens, fecal indicator bacteria, and microbial source tracking markers in environmental samples. The combination of the comprehensive microarray data with statistical methods for fecal source apportionment will advance the science of water protection. Rapid, multi-target tools for water quality monitoring that can simultaneously indicate fecal contamination sources can enhance our ability to provide high quality water supplies and water for reuse. In developing and testing this tool the transformative research proposed will: 1) refocus water microbiological safety monitoring on pathogens, 2) develop rigorous methods to overcome whole genome amplification bias, 3) develop quantitative microarrays, and, 4) develop statistical methods for fecal contamination source apportionment in water. The proposed quantitative microarray will facilitate rapid and sensitive determination of the presence of infectious agents in a variety of media (e.g., water, treated wastewater, and food). The research agenda proposed herein will: 1) establish upstream environmental sample processing for reproducible and unbiased concentration, extraction and amplification of nucleic acids, 2) develop quantitative microarrays and rigorous quality control methods for detection of nucleic acids from environmental samples, and 3) develop statistical methods for identification of the source of fecal pollution in environmental samples. The educational agenda proposed herein will develop, test, and disseminate technology-enabled, active-learning modules of fundamental microbiology concepts for environmental engineers. The development of tech-enabled, student-active learning modules allows for broad dissemination of these new tools and the concepts behind them to practicing engineers, educators, and students at multiple levels. The principal investigator has a plan to assess the effectiveness of the teaching modules and pipelines in place, especially for underrepresented groups. With the NSF-REU in place and departmental funds available, the feasibility of the educational components is high.