Soil and wastewater epidemiology in India and Benin
Amy Pickering, Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) cause a neglected tropical disease inextricably linked to poverty, inadequate sanitation, and unhygienic conditions. STH account for over five million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and infect around 1.5 billion people, representing the most prevalent parasitic infections worldwide. Classical microscopy-based surveillance strategies are suboptimal and costly. This project aims to assess the feasibility and utility of environmental sampling for infectious stages of STH as a low cost surveillance tool. Soil and wastewater samples collected in endemic regions of India and Benin will be processed and assayed using species-specific qPCR to detect STH eDNA. Samples from this study will also be used to investigate single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with drug resistance.
Role: The student will primarily assist with data review and organization. Tasks will include downloading survey data weekly, reviewing data with R scripts (statistical programming language), documenting issues or errors in data, and testing survey coding using SurveyCTO. Training will be provided on SurveyCTO and R statistical programming language. The student will also have the opportunity to learn and assist with sample organization and molecular techniques (DNA extraction, PCR, sequencing and library preparation). The student will be invited to participate in weekly lab meetings.
Qualifications: basic skills in R statistical programming language, wet lab knowledge a bonus, interest in global health and infectious disease
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Kendra Dhamer, Post-Doc
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: 125 O'Brien Hall
Biological & Health Sciences Engineering, Design & Technologies