Early detection of pathogens that may pose a threat to human health in the environment can help to prevent the next global pandemic. Pandemic ESCAPE and its team of researchers is dedicated to developing the next generation of scientists to prepare them for the challenges of pandemic prevention and response. By creating the next generation of technologies for pathogen detection and the next generation of scientists eager to perform the work, we increase our odds of early detection and ensure an appropriate response. To that end, we will be developing curricula for all education levels including K-12, undergraduate, and graduate level.
Center researchers have been working towards this goal for years already with previous grant funding. Our lab technicians, who are themselves graduate and postdoctoral students, have created standard operating procedures that were used to train wastewater treatment plant operators how to perform PCR detection of pathogens in wastewater they’ve collected. They’ve also demonstrated these techniques to high school teachers so that the teachers could discuss them with their students. Lastly, instructional content was developed by our team that was taught in classrooms in Malawi for a Girls Science Day. The education and training efforts of ESCAPE are being coordinated through the Broader Impacts (BI) research area.
