Event Details

This presentation highlights York Region’s integrated approach to wastewater surveillance as a tool for public health intelligence. Through a strategic collaboration between Public Health, Public Works, University of Waterloo, and Metagenom Bio Life Science, the Region has developed a robust system for sample collection, genomic analysis, and data interpretation. The initiative leverages advanced sequencing technologies and epidemiological methods to monitor pathogens and emerging health threats in real time. By aligning operational logistics with scientific expertise, the program enhances early detection capabilities and supports evidence-based decision-making.

This session explores the collaborative framework, analytic methodologies, and public health applications of wastewater data. Attendees will gain insight into how interdisciplinary partnerships can strengthen surveillance systems, improve responsiveness, and inform future public health strategies. The presentation also discusses lessons learned, challenges encountered, and opportunities for scaling wastewater surveillance across jurisdictions.

Intended audience: Public health practitioners in data analysis, surveillance, program evaluation, and management, laboratory scientists and epidemiologists.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the role of wastewater surveillance in evidence-informed public health at a local public health organization.
• Recognize collaborative and sustainable infrastructure between public health, public works, academic institutions, and private labs.
• Summarize approaches to developing methodologies and technologies used in wastewater surveillance sample processing, and innovative applications.
• Identify opportunities of expanding wastewater surveillance beyond COVID-19, to other priorities and disease targets.

Mark Payne, MSc, has a Master of Science degree and started his career in 2002 with York Region Public Health. In 2013, Mark joined Public Works as a Supervisor of Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement. During his career with York Region, Mark has had many roles in Public Health so when COVID struck in March 2020, Mark volunteered to assist in the pandemic response. As a Manager in the COVID response, Mark’s unique knowledge of both public health surveillance and wastewater infrastructure led to his involvement with the early days of wastewater surveillance. Mark has a passion for research and has 11 papers published including in the Canadian Family Physician and the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Carina Bee, MD, MPH, has a Bachelor of Medical Science in Microbiology and Immunology from Western University, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and a Medical Doctorate from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is a tenured infectious disease epidemiologist at York Region Public Health (YRPH), specializing in emerging disease, surveillance design and evaluation, outbreak management, risk assessment, and public health policy. Prior to YRPH, Carina was employed at the Public Health Agency of Canada and Middlesex-London Health Unit.

Vixey Fang, PhD, is a recent graduate in a Doctorate in Epidemiology at Texas A&M University after completing a Master of Science in Biostatistics at Georgetown University and an Honours Bachelor of Science in Statistics at the University of Toronto. She has a mixed experience from academia, public health, and industry, most recently as a quantitative Epidemiologist and Data Scientist with a focus in modelling and visualizations for decision-making.

Trevor Charles, PhD, is a Professor of Biology at the University of Waterloo with a thriving research group with branching interests in plant-microbe interactions, functional metagenomics, bacterial genome engineering, and wastewater surveillance towards understanding human pathogens and AMR reservoirs. Dr. Charles has founded several companies that focus on sustainable development towards a Circular Bioeconomy. He also founded and serves as the Executive Director of the Lanterna Black Innovation Hub, a Black-led business accelerator and incubator. Dr. Charles served as the inaugural director of the Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research and represents Canada at the EU Microbiome Support Association.

Jenn Knapp, MSc, works in the Charles lab as the Microbial Research Coordinator. She earned her Masters of Science in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Guelph in 2013 and has over 10 years of experimental and analytical experience with next generation sequencing data, high throughput experiments, and recently with wastewater surveillance of human pathogens and AMR targets.

Alyssa Overton, MSc, supports a diverse range of microbiology research as the lab manager in the Charles lab. She has a Masters of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Waterloo and has since been working in wastewater surveillance and microbiology. She has significant experience in next generation sequencing and qPCR, and uses metagenomic and targeted assays to detect virus and antimicrobial resistance genes in her research.

Michael Lynch, PhD, is the VP Informatics at Metagenom Bio Life Science Inc. and CSO at Healthy Hydroponics Innotech. His expertise is microbiome analysis, focusing on sequence-based taxonomy and the analysis of microbial communities. Dr. Lynch completed his Ph.D. at the University of Waterloo in 2011 and, during his postdoc, studied both the human and environmental microbiome, developing techniques for studying unique groups of bacteria. Dr. Lynch has been with Metagenom Bio Life Science since 2016 overseeing data analysis. Major projects at the company include Healthy Hydroponics (pathogen monitoring), genome/metagenome databases, and developing high-resolution taxonomic and functional sequence markers.

The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.

Public Health Ontario is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact 647-260-7100 or capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.