Description
The SENTINEL project (https://nireas-iwrc.org/research-projects/on-going-projects/sentinel/) has a duration of 36 months and is funded by the Larnaca Sewerage and Drainage Board (LSDB), with a total budget of €250,000. The project aims to set up a population-wide monitoring system of the public health status of the city of Larnaca, through the urban wastewater surveillance of pathogenic microorganisms and of antibiotic resistance determinants that are of human health concern. To this end, systematic sampling is performed every two weeks in collaboration with the Larnaca Sewerage Drainage Board (LSDB). Multiple wastewater pumping stations throughout the city are investigated, including those corresponding to the Larnaca International Airport and the Larnaca General Hospital, as well as wastewater treatment plant influent and effluent wastewater. Samples are analysed using advanced molecular biology techniques such as full-genome sequencing and quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) analysis, to investigate the presence and concentration of pathogenic microorganisms and antibiotic resistance determinants (i.e., antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)) of human health concern. Overall, this research project will contribute to the deeper understanding of the city health status through the comprehension of the associations and temporal trends that exist among clinical infection cases, and human pathogens and antibiotic-resistance determinants found in urban wastewater.
Main Actions and Outcomes
The characterization and understanding of the structure of the sampling areas served by the investigated pumping stations and wastewater treatment plant.
The molecular determination of the presence of genes of pathogenic microorganisms and antibiotic resistance determinants in wastewater samples.
The characterization of the whole genome of wastewater samples, through the use of the whole genome sequencing methodology.
The collective assessment of the health status, temporal trends and associations that may exist among human infections, pathogenic microorganisms and antibiotic resistance determinants in the city of Larnaca.
Bio
Despo Fatta-Kassinos is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Cyprus. She served as the founding director of Nireas International Water Research Center from 2010 until 2022. She holds a Diploma and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. Since 2003, she has attracted ca. 14.5 million € in funding as project coordinator/principal investigator. She is a member of the (8-member) Independent Expert Advisory Committee (IEAC) of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food, and Environments (SAAFE) of Australia and a member of the International Scientific Committee of OneWater – Eau Bien Commun, which is the National Research and Innovation Funding Programme for Water in France. She is the Chair of the Advisory Board of the African Center of Excellence in Water and Environment Research in Nigeria, and a member of the advisory boards of various water research centers in Europe. She is a founding member of the International Ph.D. School on Advanced Oxidation Processes and member of its Scientific and Management Committee. She has also served as the Chair of the Scientific and Technological Advisory Board of the European JPI 'Water Challenges for a Changing World' (20152019). She is a Highly Cited Researcher since 2018 (ranked in the top 1% by citations) and has published more than 194 journal papers.
She is Executive Editor of the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, and Editor of Water Research, Elsevier. Among other prizes, in 2012 she received the distinguished national research award by the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus, while in 2022 the Noack Laboratorien Outstanding Science Career Award by The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). In 2022 she was elected as a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe Council. In 2024, she became the first female scientist from Cyprus elected to the Academy of Europe, in the Class of Exact Sciences, in the Section of Engineering.
