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SUMMARY:Development of Genomic Tools to Enhance Wastewater Surveillance of
  Climate-Driven Pathogens
DTSTART:20260224T130000Z
DTEND:20260224T150000Z
DTSTAMP:20260308T141700Z
UID:indico-event-266@events.spacepole.be
CONTACT:florine.lebeau@climatecentre.be\;info-cc@climatecentre.be
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Laura Van Poelvoorde (Sciensano)\n\nThis 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 fo
 ster knowledge-sharing\, collaboration\, and interdisciplinary discussion 
 among climate researchers.  For edition\, the Belgian Climate Centre wil
 l welcome Laura Van Poelvoorde (Sciensano) with a presentation on "Develop
 ment 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 tempe
 ratures\, altered precipitation patterns\, and extreme weather events can 
 affect pathogen survival in the environment and the timing and intensity o
 f outbreaks. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) offers a powerful early-w
 arning system to monitor these evolving risks at the population level. In 
 Belgium\, a well-established WBE network currently monitors SARS-CoV-2\, i
 nfluenza\, RSV\, and poliovirus. Building on this unique infrastructure\, 
 the aim is to develop and implement innovative genomic tools for the surve
 illance of climate-sensitive pathogens.In this context\, the focus is on t
 hree 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 ac
 tionable public health insights.By linking molecular findings to epidemiol
 ogical insights\, the project will improve understanding of how climate fa
 ctors influence pathogen dynamics\, enable early detection of unusual tran
 smission events\, and inform risk assessment and outbreak preparedness. Th
 rough integration with European and global initiatives such as EU-WISH\, P
 asteur Network collaborations and GLOWACON\, the project aims to bridge en
 vironmental surveillance with public health action\, strengthening resilie
 nce against climate-driven infectious disease threats. \n\nhttps://events
 .spacepole.be/event/266/
LOCATION:Stratus room (Belgian Climate Centre)
URL:https://events.spacepole.be/event/266/
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