Dr. Robert Delatolla, environmental engineering professor at the uOttawa Faculty of Engineering and director of the national CoVaRR-Net Wastewater Surveillance Research Group, is part of the fourth cohort of Applied Public Health Chairs announced by the Government of Canada. The twelve new chairs will receive a total of $13.8 million to tackle research projects related to public health and will work with the government to inform policy decisions and solutions.
Delatolla aims to build on his groundbreaking COVID-19 wastewater surveillance work and better integrate this data into decision-making processes. Making this data available to policymakers and the public helps protect people against health threats, including possible pandemics, and promotes health equity.
Delatolla’s research during the COVID-19 pandemic made it possible to detect spikes in virus levels early through wastewater surveillance. His team’s data was used by agencies and individuals to inform public health decisions. The wastewater research group has since started applying its surveillance system to other viruses and health threats such as tuberculosis and respiratory syncytial virus.
Delatolla received the 2022 Ontario Professional Engineers Awards Engineering Medal for Engineering Excellence, as well as the 2022–2023 COVID-19 Public Health Innovation Fund Award from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Ontario Medical Association. He is co-chair of the Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Consortium, director of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Environmental Engineering and graduate co-ordinator of the University of Ottawa Environmental Engineering Graduate Program.
