Last week, Gabriela Eder, Berna de Vries, and Julia Vierheilig from our team attended the biennial conference of the ÖGHMP – Austrian Society for Hygiene, Microbiology, and Preventive Medicine in Vienna. With a strong focus on water-related aspects in Public Health and healthcare, the conference offered an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues working at the interface of microbiology, water, and public health, and to exchange ideas on current challenges and innovative research approaches. 

We were also pleased to contribute to the scientific program through Gabi’s oral presentation on new targets in Wastewater Surveillance, where she shared recent findings from our research and engaged in valuable discussions with fellow researchers and professionals. In addition, Julia and Moritz Pellegrini co-authored two talks, where Theresa Hohl and Claudia Kolm from Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität and ICC - Water & Health presented first results from the ARISE project on Antimicrobial Resistance monitoring in Austrian wastewater treatment plants in the context of the new EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. 

Thank you to the organizers and all participants for the inspiring exchange and excellent scientific program!