Research Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for cost-effective solutions to support wastewater epidemiology in low-middle income countries (LMICs). Wastewater epidemiology is particularly important in India for polio, as it helps counter the threat of importation of wild polio virus WPV and vaccine-derived polio viruses VDPV. A fully-integrated wastewater sample processing and analysis system will be developed, utilizing novel methods for faster turnaround time for virus concentration, nucleic acid extraction, in situ amplification, and quantification using highly specific electrochemical assays. This project will kick-start a collaboration between IIT Bombay and the University of Calgary for developing rapid and low-cost nucleic acid analysis systems for wastewater. The project aims to enable public health officials to monitor smaller communities, closely monitor populations at greater risk for disease outbreaks, and identify emerging variants based on wastewater samples.