Mangul Lab Presents at Microbes in Wastewater 2024
Justin Su January 21, 2024
Mangul Lab Presents at Microbes in Wastewater 2024
On January 18 and 19, Justin attended the Microbes in Wastewater: Molecular Approaches in Pathogen & Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Surveillance at The Ranch at Laguna Beach. As the first of its kind in Southern California, this two-day symposium was designed to explore the latest advancements in AMR surveillance, pathogen surveillance, advanced molecular methods, and data analysis and bioinformatics tools.
Justin along with Dr. Serghei Mangul had the opportunity to present posters titled A Rigorous Benchmarking of Methods for SARS-CoV-2 Lineage Abundance Estimation in Wastewater, and SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Genomic Surveillance: Approaches, Challenges, and Opportunities.
They met and heard from national experts, and received valuable feedback on our ongoing research progress from the friendly community. Considering Justin has recently entered the field of wastewater-based genomic surveillance and metagenomics, he was truly inspired by the keynote talks by Dr. Rita Colwell and Dr. Amy Pruden, and was empowered to engage and learn with the forward-thinking community throughout every talk and panel discussion. Additionally, the Mangul and Smith Labs of USC finally met in-person!
Overall, this symposium offered thought-provoking discussions, especially on the status quo of PCR and sequencing methods toward wastewater-based genomic surveillance. The choices in venue, food, and beverages were exemplary under the gorgeous Southern California weather, and Justin would like to thank the organizers, sponsors, and hosts for providing such a memorable and enriching experience. Justin highly recommends those who are conducting research in next-generation sequencing, artificial intelligence, and the future of AMR to attend their next symposium currently scheduled for February 2025.
