Abstract: Wastewater contains a myriad of different biological contaminants, including bacteria, viruses and various types of mobile genetic elements which can encode for antibiotic resistance genes. With the increasing awareness of the One Health concept, surveying our shared environment, including the wastewater, for antimicrobial resistance threats would be useful to devise appropriate intervention measures. In this presentation, I illustrate how the field of environmental science and engineering can make use of metagenomics to elucidate the presence of emerging microbial contaminants in wastewater and to assess the effect of wastewater treatment processes on these microbial contaminants.

Bio: Dr. Peiying Hong is an Associate Professor in Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, KAUST. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from National University of Singapore, and her postdoctoral training in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At KAUST, her Environmental Microbial Safety and Biotechnology Lab research group seeks to provide the fundamental science and goal-oriented research underpinning improvements in water health and water management globally. The group identifies critical knowledge gaps and exploit new approaches to deliver novel insights that advance water reuse programs safely and sustainably. The goal of Dr Hong’s research is to continue to push for the reuse of high-quality treated wastewater in water-scarce countries like Saudi Arabia and in a global environment that is increasingly impacted by climate change.