Fogarty Fellow: Nirali Patel

a portrait of Nirali Patel

Nirali Patel

Nominated From: University of Minnesota
Research Site: Bangalore, India
Primary Mentor: Weihua Guan, PhD

Research Project

Microbial Transmission in Agricultural Wastewater Reuse

For centuries, wastewater has been used for agricultural irrigation as a means to save freshwater and fertilize the soil. Unfortunately, wastewater carries a wide variety of pathogens and chemical runoff which can be potentially harmful to farmers. This study aims to examine how wastewater irrigation impacts soil microbiomes and concurrently, the skin microbiome of farmers. The microbiomes will be compared between fields irrigated with wastewater and well water to quantify whether wastewater introduces harmful pathogens and antibiotic resistance to farmers.

Mentors