Point-of-Collection Sample Pretreatment and Preservation with Porous Super-Absorbent Polymer (PSAP) Beads for Wastewater Surveillance Testing

废水监测（WWS）已成为监测和跟踪传染病传播和传播的通用平台。WWS的基本前提是，从未经处理的废水样品中提取的微生物和病毒生物标志物的检测和定量可用于监测社区中传染病的发病、传播和传播。目前，用于WSS测量的废水样品需要在收集后立即在4°C下冷藏，并在24小时内处理，以提高结果的准确性。这些要求导致不可避免地依赖冷链来收集、运输和储存废水样本，这在资源有限的环境中在后勤和财务上都不可行。这项研究的首要目标是设计和合成新型多孔聚合物珠，可以吸收收集的废水，目的是在珠内保存样品和目标病原体，而不需要冷链。该项目的成功完成有可能提高WSS测试的准确性并降低其成本，这将有助于在资源有限的环境中以及服务不足的人群中采用WSS。通过学生教育和培训，包括指导格鲁吉亚理工学院的一名研究生，将为社会带来额外的好处。废水监测（WSS）可以补充现有的临床和诊断工具，用于监测传染性病原体和疾病的传播和传播。然而，通常需要用于收集、运输和储存废水样品的冷链。为了克服这一挑战，主要研究者（PI）建议研究多孔高吸水性聚合物（PSAP）珠的设计，合成和评估，该珠可以吸收废水样品并在收集点捕获目标病原体，最初重点关注大小为20-200纳米的病毒。本研究的具体目标是：1）设计和定制PSAP珠的组成、结构、物理化学和功能特性，以优化从废水样品中选择性捕获目标病毒病原体; 2）证明PSAP珠用于废水样品预处理和保存的有效性; 3）研究PSAP珠用于保存测试目标的机制;以及4）通过使用格鲁吉亚理工学院校园中SARS-CoV-2的持续WWS监测作为测试案例，对照标准采样方法对新的PSAP珠的有效性进行基准测试，来验证新的PSAP珠。该项目的成功完成有可能通过开发和验证更有效的采样设备和协议来推动WWS在资源有限的环境中的实施和部署，从而产生变革性的影响。为了实现该项目的教育和培训目标，PI建议利用格鲁吉亚理工学院现有的计划，如SURE（夏季本科生工程/科学研究）计划，从代表性不足的群体中招募和指导本科生从事该项目。此外，本发明还提供了一种方法，PI计划让所有项目研究生/本科生参与格鲁吉亚理工学院校园WWS项目，并为他们提供跨学科学习的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Wastewater surveillance (WWS) has emerged as a versatile platform for monitoring and tracking the spread and transmission of infectious diseases. The basic premise of WWS is that the detection and quantification of microbial and virial biomarkers extracted from samples of untreated wastewater can be used to monitor the onset, spread, and transmission of infectious diseases in communities. Currently, wastewater samples for WSS measurements need to be refrigerated at 4°C immediately after collection and processed within 24 h to increase the accuracy of the results. These requirements lead to an inevitable reliance on a cold chain for collecting, transporting, and storing wastewater samples, which might not be feasible both logistically and financially in resource-limited settings. The overarching goal of this research is to design and synthesize novel porous polymer beads that could absorb the collected wastewater with the goal of preserving the samples and the target pathogens within the beads without the need for a cold chain. The successful completion of this project has the potential to improve accuracy and lower the cost of WSS testing which will facilitate its adoption in resource-limited settings with underserved populations. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of a graduate student at Georgia Tech.Wastewater surveillance (WSS) can complement existing clinical and diagnosis tools for monitoring the spread and transmission of infectious pathogens and disease. However, a cold chain for the collection, transport, and storage of wastewater samples is typically required. To overcome this challenge, the Principal Investigators (PIs) proposes to investigate the design, synthesis, and evaluation of porous super-absorbent polymer (PSAP) beads that could absorb wastewater samples and capture the target pathogens at the point of collection with an initial focus on viruses with 20-200 nanometers in size. The specific objectives of this research are to 1) design and tailor the composition, structure, physicochemical, and functional properties of PSAP beads to optimize the selective capture of target viral pathogens from wastewater samples; 2) demonstrate the effectiveness of PSAP beads for wastewater sample pretreatment and preservation; 3) investigate the mechanisms of PSAP beads for the preservation of testing targets; and 4) validate the new PSAP beads by benchmarking their effectiveness against the standard sampling methodology using ongoing WWS monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 on the Georgia Tech campus as test cases. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the development and validation of more effective sampling devices and protocols to advance the implementation and deployment of WWS in in resource-limited settings with underserved populations. To implement the education and training goals of the project, the PIs propose to leverage existing programs at Georgia Tech such as the SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Sciences) program to recruit and mentor undergraduate students from underrepresented groups to work on the project. In addition, the PIs plan to involve all the project graduate/undergraduate students with the Georgia Tech campus WWS program and provide them with the opportunity to learn cross-discipline skills needed to work on a transdisciplinary project that converges microbiology with materials science and environmental engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.