Airborne Pathways of Antimicrobial Resistance: Exploring Bioaerosols in Environmental and Public Health Surveillance
The Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics (IHEP) invites the University of Toronto community for an in-person lecture on "Airborne Pathways of Antimicrobial Resistance: Exploring Bioaerosols in Environmental and Public Health Surveillance," highlighting the emerging role of airborne AMR in shaping future public health monitoring and emergency preparedness.
Event Details
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat and is responsible for billions of dollars in direct healthcare costs and lost productivity in Canada. While AMR spread has long been tracked through water and soil, bioaerosols have only recently been recognized as a potential critical pathway. Bioaerosols are airborne particles carrying microorganisms and genetic material that can enable long-range transport of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and other pathogens, potentially spreading resistance across ecosystems, and infecting humans and animals via inhalation. Interest in research into airborne AMR is growing, as are the challenges. These include choosing the right environments, sampling instruments, and analytical techniques for the diverse research questions, and capturing and analyzing low-biomass samples, a constant problem with any bioaerosol research. This presentation will summarize our current understanding of airborne ARGs in different environments and discuss the sampling strategies and molecular techniques at our disposal.
Objectives
- Introduce the concept of bioaerosols as a pathway for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) transmission.
- Review current research on airborne AMR.
- Discuss sampling strategies and molecular tools used to detect ARGs in bioaerosols.
- Address the challenges of low-biomass sample analysis.
- Encourage critical thinking about how airborne AMR fits into broader environmental and public health surveillance.
About the presenter
David Kormos is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics under the co-supervision of Professors Jeffrey Siegel and Sarah Haines in the college of Civil and Mineral engineering, and Xiaolin Wei in the College of Public Health. He completed his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech University under the advisement of Professor Linsey Marr and received his B.S. from the Ohio State University under the advisement of Professor Karen Dannemiller.
In his doctorate, David's research centered around bioaerosol sampling and analysis, focusing on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in air, water, and soil. He quantified ARG emission rates using qPCR from animal feeding operations and assessed inhalation exposure risks. He custom designed and built a custom air sampler and a quad culturing plate for impactor use, employing culturing techniques and metagenomics for ARG analysis. He has also evaluated bipolar ionization's effectiveness in eliminating classroom bacteria using culturing and qPCR techniques.
His current research interests include bioaerosols and human exposure in indoor environments, and instrumentation development and deployment. He is also interested in low-cost filtration methods and using quantitative filter forensics approaches to assess the effectiveness and quality of filtration systems.