• May 20, 2025 - All Day
• May 21, 2025 - All Day

Cross-border Collaboration to
ADVANCE WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE

Integrating Pathogens Surveillance Networks:
A workshop to advance the use of wastewater surveillance across the Canada-U.S. border region in preparation for the next pandemic.
Join us for two days of networking, learning, and working toward actions to safeguard the integrity of our shared border.

Date: May 20-21, 2025
Location:  McGregor Memorial Conference Center, Detroit, MI, USA
And Satellite Session Planned at The University Of Windsor

Presentations From:
Abby Paulos, Postdoctoral Fellow at WastewaterSCAN
Amanda Bidwell, Scientific Program Manager at WastewaterSCAN
Natalie Knox, Director at Bacterial Pathogens, AMR, and Wastewater Division of the National Microbiology Laboratory at the Public Health Agency of Canada

Schedule of Events:

Tuesday, May 20

8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast in McGregor Atrium
9:00 a.m. Welcome, Introduction and Conference Overview
9:30 a.m. Overview of Wastewater Surveillance Systems - Canadian and United States' Perspectives
11:00 a.m. Panel & Q&A: Existing cross-border pathogen surveillance programs and opportunities
12:30 p.m. Lunch in McGregor Atrium
1:30 p.m. Laboratory Methods Harmonization between academic and public health labs
2:45 p.m. Pandemic Preparedness Tabletop Exercise
5:30 p.m. Networking Reception at the McGregor Pond

Wednesday, May 21

8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast in McGregor Atrium
8:30 a.m. Recap of Day 1
9:00 a.m. Panel: Legal issues, ethics and privacy issues with wastewater surveillance
10:45 a.m. Public health data sharing between health units, provinces/states, federal agencies and academia
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Wastewater Surveillance Case Studies and Group Break Out Brainstorming:

• Funding to continue supporting wastewater surveillance
• Coordinated Emergency preparedness and alert-response protocols
• Adapting Wastewater Surveillance for Other Emerging Health Issues
• e.g. Cross-Border Drug Surveillance, Avian Influenza, Serology

3:00 p.m. Next Steps

Register by Monday, April 28, 2025, to attend.