We are environmental engineers whose research focuses on wastewater-based epidemiology, environmental antibiotic resistance, wastewater and resource recovery, and environmental synthetic biology.
Wastewater Monitoring
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a comprehensive and resource-efficient approach for monitoring of community infection dynamics. Our group partners with the Houston Health Department and Houston Public Works to implement and innovate wastewater monitoring for the City of Houston. We are a CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System Center of Excellence, and we support and collaborate with health departments across the country to implement WBE. Our wastewater monitoring system informs public health response in real time.​​
Horizontal Gene Transfer in Microbial Communities
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the movement of genetic material between organisms in ways other than direct vertical inheritance. It drives microbial evolution, and can be harnessed to engineer microbial communities. Our group develops biosensors for monitoring horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in microbial communities. We also harness HGT for microbiome engineering and to understand the environmental dissemination of antimicrobial resistance.
