PATHways for PATHogens and antimicrobial resistance in Wells ( PATH -2- Well study)

北美约有5100万人靠私人水井供水，而这些水井往往得不到治疗。这些私人供水不受监管；房主负责测试和处理他们的水，据报道，分别只有27%和34%的加拿大人在水井上这样做。粗略地说，我估计，在加拿大和美国，每年有140万例急性胃肠道疾病(AGI)病例归因于饮用未经治疗的私人水井中的水。这些病例是可以预防的，而且主要落在被遗弃的农村、服务不足的人口身上。在加拿大，私人水井在实现公平获得安全管理的饮用水方面仍然是一个重大差距。NSERC Discovery计划将建立我们对病原体进入地下水的传播途径的了解，为开发适当的干预措施来管理水井提供基础，以帮助保护400多万依赖井水的加拿大农村贫困人口。当我开始担任One Health的CRC新职位时，我寻求拓宽我的地下水研究途径，以产生有助于国家和国际规模的决策者的数据。这将是我第一次提交NSERC发现基金。我的记录为这个雄心勃勃而独特的研究项目奠定了基础，该项目植根于One Health(动物、人类和环境健康之间的接口)。在短期内，通过下面描述的目标，我提出的研究计划试图识别和了解肠道病原体从动物和人类来源通过环境进入私人水井的方式。该基金会将支持我的长期目标(5年)，即开发工程干预和控制措施，以最终保护健康。目标1-确定导致农村家庭未经处理的井水中存在病原体和抗菌素耐药基因(ARGs)的环境因素。(PHD 1-2，PDF 1，UG 1-3)目标2-了解降雨和前期干燥天气条件对私人水井微生物污染的影响。(PHD 2、UG 4)目标3--调查和优化被动采样技术的使用，监测私人井水中的病原体和ARG。(MSC 1-2，PDF 2，UG 5-6)我在工程和环境健康的十字路口拥有超过17年的跨学科研究经验，重点是保障供水。这项研究计划将培训12名HQP，并提供独特的实验室和现场经验，借鉴工程学、公共卫生、流行病学、水微生物学和风险评估。经过实地研究和湿法实验室技术培训的HQP在学术界、工业界和政府部门都很有用武之地。此外，HQP将有机会与致力于保护全球地下水供应的国际研究人员网络合作和合作。

Approximately 51 million people in North America are served by private wells that are frequently untreated. These private water supplies are unregulated; homeowners are responsible for testing and treating their water of which only 27% and 34% of Canadians, respectively, on wells reportedly do. Crudely, I estimate that 1.4 million cases of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) per year are attributed to consuming water from untreated private wells in Canada and the US. These cases of illness are preventable and largely fall on rural, underserved populations that have been left behind. Private wells remain a major gap in achieving equitable access to safely managed drinking water in Canada. This NSERC Discovery program will build our understanding of the transmission pathways of pathogens into groundwater, providing the foundation for developing appropriate interventions to manage wells to help protect the more than 4 million rural underserved Canadians that rely on well water. As I embark on my new position as CRC in One Health, I seek to broaden my avenue of groundwater research to generate data that will help decision makers at national and international scales. This will be my first submission of an NSERC Discovery grant. My track record has provided the foundation for this ambitious and unique research program rooted in One Health (the interface between animal, human and environmental health). In the short-term, through the Aims described below, my proposed research program seeks to identify and understand the ways enteric pathogens move from animal and human sources through the environment into private wells. This foundation will support my long-term objective (> 5 years) of developing engineering interventions and control measures to ultimately protect health. Aim 1- Identify environmental factors that lead to the presence of pathogens and antimicrobial resistant genes (ARGs) in untreated well water from rural households. (PhD 1- 2, PDF 1, UG 1-3) Aim 2- Understand the influence of rainfall and antecedent dry weather conditions on the microbial contamination of private wells. (PhD 2, UG 4) Aim 3- Investigate and optimize the use of passive sampling techniques for monitoring of pathogens and ARGs in private well water supplies. (MSc 1-2, PDF 2, UG 5-6) I bring over 17 years of interdisciplinary research experience at the cross-roads of engineering and environmental health with a focus on safeguarding water supplies. This research program will train 12 HQP and provide unique lab and field experience drawing on engineering, public health, epidemiology, water microbiology, and risk assessment. HQP trained in both field research and wet lab techniques are highly employable in academia, industry and government. Additionally, HQP will have the opportunity to collaborate and work with a network of international researchers who are committed to protecting groundwater supplies around the globe.