April, 2024. Lots of exciting things happening in our lab. Student success!
April 12: Congratulations to Katie for winning the Delta Omega Poster Competition. Her poster titled Metagenomic sequencing of zoonotic viruses from oysters, mussels, and seawater to address one health. Excellent work!
April 10: Congratulations to Dr. Katie Vigil, who successfully defended her dissertation today and now holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences.
Katie and her dissertation committee: Dr. Godebo, Dr. Aw and Dr. Li.
Aw_lab celebration on Katie’s achievement.
Undergraduate student, Penelope and her lab mentor, Keegan conducted a public health outreach project on drinking water quality. Their project titled “Backwash Olympics”: Bacteria in Reusable Water Bottles. We’re excited to learn about their findings soon.
Aug 31, 2023. Katie has been named Tulane ByWater Institute Scholar. Katie has been awarded the Scholarly Retreat Residency. During her residency, she intends to draft a publication on sequencing viruses in seawater and oysters collected from Barataria Bay to identify emerging zoonotic diseases and pathogens that may impact other aquatic organisms. https://www.astudiointhewoods.org/2023/08/31/announcing-scholarly-retreat-residents-2023-2024/
https://www.astudiointhewoods.org/artist/katie-vigil/
July, Aug, 2023. Busy but productive summer. AW_Lab members have been busy publishing, presenting at both national and international conferences, learning new methods.
Dr. Aw and Katie at the 21st International Symposium on Health-Related Water Microbiology at Darwin Australia.
Dr. Aw and previous colleague, Dr Goh from National University of Singapore.
Katie and her poster on Nanopore sequencing. Katie also visited the Philippines Genome Center.
Dr. Wu and Keegan at the ASM (American Society for Microbiology) Microbe 2023 at Houston and AEESP (Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors) Research & Education Conference at Boston.
Dr. Wu and Julio Polanco from Orange County Water District, one of our collaborators on EPA virus project.
Keegan and Dr. Gerba from University of Arizona.
Josh attended the Algal Taxonomy & Ecology Workshop in Michigan, to learn how to identify diverse algae in water samples. And our undergrad Annika becomes proficient in qPCR techniques.
Fernanda evaluated the use of recycled glass sands to improve our water quality.
Dr. Aw’s book chapters published!
May 19, 2023. Graduation and we say farewell to Sam. Sam has been with us since Fall 2021. He involved in wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 and mpox virus, and nanopore sequencing. We thank Sam for everything he contributed to the AW_Lab and wish him all the best in his future endeavors at Columbia University.
April 7, 2023. Simran thesis defense. Congratulations to Simran Singh (Master student at Michigan State University) who successfully defended her thesis on evaluation of a marine water concentration method for recovery of viruses.
March 1, 2023. Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summit. Aw_Lab members presented their research at this University-wide event. Excellent job on the poster!
December 2022. Holiday celebration! 2022 has been a great year, full of excitements and accomplishments. Graduation, reaching another milestone during undergraduate or graduate career, starting new research, learning new things and skills.
October, 2022. Welcome to new lab member.
We welcome Fernanda, a research lab technician. Fernanda is from Brazil.
August, 2022. Welcome to new lab members.
This Fall semester, we welcome Morgan, Annika and new PhD student, Keegan.
July 6, 2022. We say farewell to Lexi. Lexi has been with us since Spring 2019. She involved in several research projects particularly wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 and co-authored four papers. We thank Lexi for everything she contributed to the AW_Lab and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.
June 2022. Our lab has moved into a larger space!
April 8, 2022. Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society annual Research Poster Presentation.
Katie and Sam presented their research at the Delta Omega Annual Research Poster Reception. Excellent job on the poster!
April 2022. Welcome to new lab members.
Aw Lab has had many happy transitions recently!
We move to a larger lab space with some new equipment including digital PCR system.
We welcome Dr Huiyun Wu, as a new post-doctoral scholar to work on the viruses in water reuse systems project. Previously Dr Wu was a ORISE Research Fellow at US EPA.
We also welcome new PhD students, Ali Perez and Josh Alarcon.
December 2021. Holiday celebration!
2021 has been another challenging year. Let’s hope for a better year in 2022.
October 2021. AW Lab receives funding from U.S. EPA to study viruses in water reuse applications.
May 20, 2021. Graduation Day!
Several graduates from the AW Lab:
Dr. Laura Scott – Laura was also featured in the commencement magazine. She will be starting a research scientist position in the Fall in USGS at Alaska Science Center.
https://news.tulane.edu/news/commencement-2021-graduate-laura-scott-school-public-health
http://sphtmmagazine.tulane.edu/2021/03/17/searching-for-resistant-bacteria-living-in-nature/
Layla Babahaji, Alexandra (Lexi) Aubee and Amina Ashraf – BS Public Health
Well done everyone!
April 5, 2021. Happy Defense Day to Laura.
Congratulations to Dr. Laura Scott, who successfully defended her dissertation today and now holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences.
Jan 2020. AW Lab receives funding from U.S. Department of the Navy
AW Lab was awarded a research funding from the Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy to study viruses in water environments associated with marine mammals.
https://sph.tulane.edu/news/building-marine-mammal-virome
April 12, 2018. Tulane School of Science and Engineering Poster Day
Sarah O’Brien presented her independent study at the School of Science and Engineering Poster Day. Nice job on the poster!
March 22, 2018. Hot Water Forum
Dr. Aw was invited to give a talk about Legionella and other opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens at the Hot Water Forum, organized by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, in Portland Oregon. His talk was “Working Toward Safer Drinking Water at Home, Work and School”.
March 9, 2018. Emily Cooksey receives the William R. Hartley, ScD Award for Excellence in Environmental Health Research.
Feb 19, 2018. Tulane Health Sciences Research Days
Aw_Lab member presented their research at the Health Sciences Research Days. Emily was awarded the Dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Award for Excellence in Research and Presentation by a Public Health Masters Student.
Feb 16, 2018. Laura receives a research fellowship!
Laura Scott was awarded the Bailey Rocky Mountain Research Fellowship to conduct a research on antibiotic resistant bacteria in soils and waterways in Rocky Mountain National Park this summer.
Jan 12, 2018. Aw_Lab is on the news!
Fragile Water Infrastructure, Often On the Verge of Collapse