MicroSafe: microbiome-based strategies for safe climate-resilient engineered water systems

• Grant number: 25/03568-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Welington Luiz de Araújo
• Grantee: Welington Luiz de Araújo
• Principal researcher abroad: Emile Sylvestre
• Institution abroad: Delft University of Technology ,
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Principal investigators: Maria Ines Zanoli Sato ; Patricia Severino
• Associated researchers: Jansen de Araujo ; Luiz Antonio Papp ; Solange Costa Lima

Abstract

Cities are emerging as microbial risk hotspots, with climate-driven extreme weather accelerating threats from engineered water systems. In the Netherlands, Legionnaires' disease cases have tripled over the past decade, now the second-largest infectious disease burden after COVID-19. Seasonal summer peaks highlight open-air aerosol sources as key infection drivers. Hence, integrated solutions are needed to mitigate and reduce disease risks. MicroSafe addresses the adverse health effects of opportunistic pathogens spread by cooling towers and irrigation systems in the Netherlands and Brazil, where rising temperatures, humidity, and shifting precipitation patterns fuel microbial growth and aerosolization of pathogens like Legionella pneumophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Mycobacterium spp. These pathogens pose severe risks, disproportionately affecting vulnerable urban populations, particularly those with pre-existing health conditions and limited acces to healthcare. MicroSafe tackles pathogen proliferation in full-scale systems by developing novel pathogen monitoring strategies, unraveling microbial ecology, and advancing predictive microbiology and health risk assessment. High-frequency monitoring tailored to extreme heat and heavy rainfall events will capture short-term pathogen fluctuations, and early warning indicators will identify specific microbial signatures that precede pathogen proliferation. Resilient microbial communities capable of suppressing opportunistic pathogen growth will be mapped by investigating antagonistic microbes and metabolic pathways. Findings will feed into a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) framework to forecast disease risks under climate scenarios and evaluate microbiome-based control strategies. MicroSafe unites TU Delft's expertise in QMRA, University of São Paulo's metagenomics, Radboud University's metabolomics, Albert Einstein Hospital's clinically focused pathogen research, CETESB's regulatory experience, KWR Water Research Institute's expertise on opportunistic pathogens, and industry stakeholders. Through a co-creation process with regulators, industry, and affected communities, this transdisciplinary consortium ensures that research-driven solutions are actionable and scalable across urban regions. MicroSafe advances climate-resilient water safety management, transforming how we assess, predict, and mitigate microbial risks to safeguard public health in cities worldwide. (AU)