This seminar is part of the Climate Cookies & Coffee series of the Belgian Climate Centre. This is a new seminar series launched by the Belgian Climate Centre to foster knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and interdisciplinary discussion among climate researchers.
For edition, the Belgian Climate Centre will welcome Laura Van Poelvoorde (Sciensano) with a presentation on "Development of Genomic Tools to Enhance Wastewater Surveillance of Climate-Driven Pathogens".
Climate change is increasingly influencing the emergence, transmission, and geographic spread of infectious diseases. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events can affect pathogen survival in the environment and the timing and intensity of outbreaks. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) offers a powerful early-warning system to monitor these evolving risks at the population level. In Belgium, a well-established WBE network currently monitors SARS-CoV-2, influenza, RSV, and poliovirus. Building on this unique infrastructure, the aim is to develop and implement innovative genomic tools for the surveillance of climate-sensitive pathogens.
In this context, the focus is on three key objectives: (1) identifying and prioritizing pathogens of concern in the context of climate change, (2) developing and validating advanced molecular and sequencing methods (digital PCR, targeted sequencing, and metagenomics), and (3) applying these tools to wastewater to generate actionable public health insights.
By linking molecular findings to epidemiological insights, the project will improve understanding of how climate factors influence pathogen dynamics, enable early detection of unusual transmission events, and inform risk assessment and outbreak preparedness. Through integration with European and global initiatives such as EU-WISH, Pasteur Network collaborations and GLOWACON, the project aims to bridge environmental surveillance with public health action, strengthening resilience against climate-driven infectious disease threats.
