Houston Wastewater Epidemiology

Wastewater study monitors Houston schools for viral threats

A new study by Rice University and the Houston Health Department finds that wastewater-based monitoring is an effective way to detect viral outbreaks in schools.

Lauren Stadler has won an NSF CAREER Award

Engineering’s Lauren Stadler has received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to improve wastewater treatment by harnessing the power of microbiomes.

Lab Notes for Jan. 30, 2023

STAT’s Hopkins co-authors National Academies report. CAREER Awards keep coming. DOE funds NEWT desalination research.

Daylong wastewater samples yield surprises

Rice engineers find snapshots lead to bias in testing wastewater for antibiotic-resistant genes.

Bacterial sensors send a jolt of electricity when triggered

Rice researchers develop programmable bacteria that sense contaminants and release an electronic signal in real time.

NSF backs bid to speed environmental tests for viruses

The NSF backs Rice University efforts to speed the analysis of wastewater for coronaviruses from hours to seconds.

People, papers and presentations for Sept. 12, 2022

Rice statisticians Katherine Ensor and Loren Hopkins and civil and environmental engineer Lauren Stadler are co-authors of a commentary in Nature Medicine that issues an urgent call to scale up wastewater monitoring to detect early signs of disease.

CDC names Houston Health Department, Rice a wastewater epidemiology Center of Excellence

A system to track COVID-19 through Houston’s wastewater became the basis of an epidemiology center that has now earned special designation from the U.S. government and $1 million in its first year of federal funding.

Houston refines hunt for COVID in wastewater

There are many ways to test municipal wastewater for signs of the virus that causes COVID-19, but scientists in Houston have determined theirs is the best yet.

Antibody study suggests COVID-19 infections underestimated

A monthslong study to determine the number of Houstonians carrying COVID-19 antibodies revealed infections may have been four times greater than viral tests showed, according to collaborators at the Houston Health Department, Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine.

Rice helps give Houston early COVID-19 warnings

Scientists and statisticians at Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering have worked long hours for months to help the city of Houston monitor the spread of COVID-19 through traces of the coronavirus found in wastewater treatment plants.

Rice awards first COVID-19 research grants

The Rice University COVID-19 Research Fund Oversight and Review Committee announced it will support projects to develop affordable diagnostic tools, seals to maximize the efficiency of surgical masks, a system to identify signs of the coronavirus in Houston wastewater and methods to ensure voter safety this fall.