9th International Conference on Wastewater-based Epidemiology

22 to 25 October 2026

Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China

The Testing the Waters-9th International Conference on Wastewater-Based Epidemiology will take place from 22 to 25 October 2026 in Changshu, China.

Conference website

The conference will provide an international platform to present the latest scientific advances, innovative methodologies, and practical experiences in WBE, while fostering knowledge exchange and new collaborations aimed at strengthening its contribution to global health security.

NEW: The deadline for abstract submission has been extended until 30 June.

June 2-4, 2025

University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA United States

Conference website

Lisbon Congress Centre, Portugal, October 21-22, 2024

Wastewater-based epidemiology as a monitoring tool in a highly dynamic world of substance use

Venue

Lisbon Congress Centre

Auditorium VI

Full program

Conference Themes

• Illicit drugs and alcohol use
• New psychoactive substances
• Long term monitoring and spatial trends
• New and/or improved analytical methods
• Improvements of wastewater-based epidemiology approaches
• Future perspectives
• Government, policy evaluation and influencing policy

Keynote speakers

Richard Bade, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Australia.

Ester Heath, Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia.

Miren Lopez de Alda, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Spain.

Scientific committee

Richard Bade, University of Queensland, Australia
Frederic Been, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tim Boogaerts, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Dan Burgard, University of Puget Sound, USA
Jeong-Eun Oh, Pusan National University, South Korea
Despo Fatta-Kassinos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Ester Heath, Jǒzef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Miren Lopez de Alda, IDAEA-CSIC, Spain
Selda Mercan, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Turkey
Christoph Ort, Eawag, Switzerland
Jose Benito Quintana, USC, Spain
Noelia Salgueiro – Gonzalez, Mario Negri, Italy
Thomas ter Laak, KWR, Netherlands
Pim de Voogt, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Foon Yin Lai, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

Organizing committee

Jose Antonio Baz Lomba, FHI, Norway
Lubertus Bijlsma, University Jaume I, Spain
Sara Castiglioni, Mario Negri, Italy
João Matias, EUDA, Portugal
Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, University of Bath, UK
Alexander van Nuijs, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Registration and abstracts

Call for abstracts: 10 April – 10 May 2024

Notification to authors: 15 June 2024

Registration starts: 20 June 2024

Registration Fee
180 euros standard fee.
100 euros students reduced fee.

Abstract template

Submit your abstract at: info@score-network.eu

The 41^st International Conference on Environmental & Food Monitoring, ISEAC-41, will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 20-24 November 2023.

The conference focuses on innovations in analytical techniques covering the environment-food continuum and will include a dedicated session on wastewater-based epidemiology (specifically on chemicals and exposure to environmental contaminants). More information on the program can be found here.

More information about the conference can be found in the following links:

https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/events/events-2023/testing-the-waters-6

The scientific sessions will cover the following topics:

• Chemical exposure and usage (chemicals of concern)
• Infectious and non-communicable diseases
• Normalisation approaches to inform modelling for epidemiology
• Scaling up and Sensing
• New perspectives in One Health WBE

Abstract submission will be possible from January 1 until March 15, 2023.

Marina Celia Campos Mañas

Biography

Marina graduated in Chemistry by the University of Almería, Spain (UAL) back in 2014. After that, she did her PhD at the UAL, which she obtained in 2019, in the research group Environmental analysis and water treatment. Her doctoral thesis focused on analytical techniques for environmental water analysis and, specifically, on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of organic microcontaminants to evaluate water contamination and water reuse. She did an international research secondment of five months at the Center of Environmental Mass Spectrometry in Colorado (USA). During her postdoc, she has been working on analytical methods and strategies to quantify organic microcontaminants in environmental waters at UAL, as well as within the European project EUSEME- Europe-wide sewage analysis to monitor emerging drug problems (at UJI). Through a contract of excellence, she currently holds a position at the UJI and works, among other things, on wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).

“How and when did you get to learn about wastewater-based epidemiology?”

I started working on wastewater-based epidemiology at the end of 2020, within the framework of the EU project EUSEME led by the SCORE group. At that time I was doing my second postdoc at the University Jaume I (UJI) and was involved in the work package led by Dr. Lubertus Biljsma.

“What is your current research focus?”

On the one hand, I’m currently working on the analysis of wastewater to determine drugs of abuse at the European (part of the SCORE network’s activities) and national levels (ESAR-net, Spain) to carry out wastewater-based epidemiology. On the other hand, I’m also doing research on the determination of pesticides, antibiotics, and other pharmaceuticals in environmental and biological samples. The goal, in this case, is for instance to calculate human exposure to pesticides.

“What’s the most exciting part of your job / what motivates you?”

What I like most about my job is studying the impact that human activities have on the environment. In addition, I find it very interesting to apply methods used to measure drugs of abuse in wastewater to be able to estimate consumption and complement other sources of information.

“What are your goals for the future?”

In the future, I would like to pursue research and apply the things I have learned so far. In addition, I would like to expand my line of research to measure the toxicity and impact that emerging pollutants have on the environment.

All the data and the visual tool to explore the data can be found here:

https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/html/pods/waste-water-analysis_en

Welcome to our brand new website

Hereby we would like to welcome you to our brand new SCORE Network website.

On our new website you will find all the information about SCORE’s activities in the field of wastewater-based epidemiology, as well as a rich repository of information, literature and projects related to the field.

As some of you might have noticed already, our previous website (https://score-cost.eu/) will cease to exist soon and you will be automatically redirected to this website.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us: info@score-network.eu