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

在北美，大约有5 100万人使用私人威尔斯水井，但这些水井往往未经处理。这些私人供水是不受管制的;房主负责测试和处理他们的水，据报道，只有27%和34%的加拿大人分别在威尔斯井上这样做。粗略地说，我估计每年有140万例急性胃肠道疾病（AGI）是由于饮用了加拿大和美国未经处理的私人威尔斯井中的水。这些病例是可以预防的，主要发生在农村，服务不足的人口被抛在后面。在加拿大，私人威尔斯水井仍然是实现公平获得安全管理的饮用水的一个主要差距。这个NSERC发现计划将建立我们对病原体进入地下水的传播途径的理解，为制定适当的干预措施提供基础，以管理威尔斯，帮助保护400多万依赖井水的加拿大农村服务不足的人。 当我开始在One Health担任CRC的新职位时，我寻求扩大地下水研究的途径，以生成有助于国家和国际决策者的数据。这将是我第一次提交NSERC发现补助金。我的业绩记录为这个雄心勃勃的独特研究计划奠定了基础，该计划植根于One Health（动物，人类和环境健康之间的界面）。在短期内，通过下面描述的目标，我提出的研究计划旨在确定和了解肠道病原体从动物和人类来源通过环境进入私人威尔斯井的方式。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。 目的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（ARG）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威尔斯井微生物污染的影响。(PhD 2、普遍条款4）目标3-调查和优化被动采样技术的使用，以监测私人供水井水中的病原体和ARG。(MSc 1-2，PDF 2，UG 5-6）我在工程和环境健康的交叉路口带来了超过17年的跨学科研究经验，重点是保障供水。该研究计划将培训12名HQP，并提供工程，公共卫生，流行病学，水微生物学和风险评估方面的独特实验室和现场经验。在实地研究和湿实验室技术培训的HQP在学术界，工业界和政府中具有很高的就业率。此外，HQP将有机会与致力于保护地球仪各地地下水供应的国际研究人员网络合作。

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.