Researchers from Joan Rose’s lab train at WEST Center

For a week in February 2019, WEST welcomed visiting research scientists, Matthew Flood and Syrena Whitner, to study cell culture techniques and qPCR protocols with WEST experts.  Traveling from Michigan State University (MSU), the two researchers work out of the prominent Joan Rose laboratory.  Dr. Rose, an expert in microbial risk to human health, has a long relationship with UA WEST faculty.

WEST is pleased to collaborate with Dr. Rose and her research team.  As stated on Dr. Rose’s website:

“Every drop of water matters to Dr. Joan Rose and her research team who she calls ‘water detectives.’ Joan is an international authority on water microbiology, water quality, and public health safety, and she co-directs both MSU’s Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA) and its Center for Water Sciences (CWS).”  Upon receiving the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize in 2016, Dr. Rose described the importance of water and water quality research -- “Water is at the core of sustainability, and water quality affects the bio health of our planet, with humans, animals and plants equally impacted. It also affects our food security, our economic opportunities and our well-being.”

Matthew Flood and Syrena Whitner spent their time in the WEST laboratories comparing protocols and learning tissue cell culture methods from Dr. Luisa Ikner and Pat Gundy who boast more than 20 years of experience with cell culture for the detection of infectious viruses.  Mr. Flood and Ms. Whitner also worked with Dr. Walter Betancourt and Christina Morrison to gain expertise in Integrated cell culture (qPCR) techniques.

The pair will return to Joan Rose’s lab after a week of training and dialogue to use new practices in the testing of environmental samples in Michigan.