In this episode we are joined by David Duest, David is the Director of the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Boston MA. DIWTP is the 2nd largest wastewater treatment plant in the United States servicing over 2.3 million people and 43 different communities. It boasts several innovative technologies that are used as models around the world and here in the US. In this episode we discuss the amazing capabilities of the plant including innovative methods of waste removal and using the byproducts to create clean energy to fuel the plant and improve the environment. We also discuss the utility of wastewater surveillance, how and when it was introduced to the treatment plant, and current monitoring. From stool to fuel and beyond, you won't want to miss this very informative episode!

In this episode we are joined again by Tropical and Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Davidson Hamer. We discuss Arboviruses, what they are, how they are spread, and what kinds of illnesses they can cause. We talk in depth about the current Dengue spread and what may be driving the historic increase in cases and what to expect in the coming months to years. We also discuss West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and the current situation here in the New England area,

Dr. Hamer is a Professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health and Chobanian & Avesidian School of Medicine, he is also an Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. He is a specialist in infectious diseases with a particular interest in tropical infectious diseases and has extensive field experience in neonatal and child survival research including studies of micronutrient interventions, maternal and neonatal health, malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases.

For over 20 years, he has supervised and provided technical support to numerous studies in developing countries that evaluated interventions for improving neonatal survival, integrated community case management (iCCM), improving access for pregnant women to emergency obstetrical care, treatment and prevention of malaria, HIV/AIDS, micronutrient deficiencies, diarrheal disease, and pneumonia.

Dr. Hamer is also the Surveillance Lead for the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, a global network of 70 sites in 31 countries that conducts surveillance of emerging infectious diseases using returning travelers, immigrants, and refugees as sentinels of infection (https://geosentinel.org).

He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the International Society of Travel Medicine and has been published in hundreds of medical journals including; Journal of American Medicine, Journal of travel medicine, Journal of Global Health, International Journal of Infectious Disease, and many, many more.

In this episode we are joined by Microbiologist and phage enthusiast Dr. Sian Owen to discuss exactly what phages are, how they work, and the latest in phage research that may yield new tools in the fight against antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Dr. Owen recently finished her post doctoral research as a Fellow In the department of Biomedical Informatics and the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology at the Baym Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. and will soon be heading her own lab at the Wadsworth Center in Albany New York. She has also completed research at the Jay Hinton Laboratory in Liverpool England and is an expert in the field of bacteriophages and has been using experimental evolution and computational approaches to study the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Dr. Owen's discoveries have been published in Nature, Nature Microbiology, Science and The Journal of Molecular Science just to name a few. Dr. Owen is a lover of all things phages and is an avid Mushroom hunter when not discovering new ways to aid in the fight against MDROs.