FEBRUARY 2021

Michigan State University researchers have 
received $2.1 million in grant funding to test 
for the novel coronavirus in wastewater, 
including from the Detroit area, which has 
the potential to be an early warning system 
for the presence of COVID-19.

The funding was provided by the Michigan 
Department of Environment, Great Lakes 
and Energy, and the Michigan Department 
of Health and Human Services from 
Michigan’s allocation of federal money 
under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 
Economic Security Act, or CARES. Existing 
COVID-19 wastewater surveillance programs 
were funded to quickly establish a 
standardized and coordinated network of 
monitoring systems across the state.

Joan Rose, Homer Nowlin Chair in Water 
Research at MSU, was awarded $1.3 million 
of the total funding to train and assist labs 
with analytical methods. 

Irene Xagoraraki, associate professor of civil 
and environmental engineering at MSU, was 
Continued on page 2

MICHIGAN STATE
U N I V E R S I T Y

MSU tests Detroit-
area wastewater 
for early COVID-19
detection

Associate Professor Irene Xagoraraki will expand her ongoing COVID-19 detection program in the 
Detroit area with an $800,000 grant. (Photo taken prior to the university-wide mask mandate.)

awarded $800,000 to expand an ongoing 
COVID-19 detection program to test untreated 
sewage in the Detroit area. 

In 2017, she received funding from the 
National Science Foundation to begin a 
wastewater-based epidemiology project in 
collaboration with the Great Lakes Water 
Authority and the Detroit Water and Sewerage 
Department. In April 2020, Xagoraraki received 
additional funding to focus on COVID-19 and 

develop an early warning system for the 
metro Detroit area.

“Our early work confirmed the validity of 
the method to provide early warning of 
multiple viral diseases, including COVID-19,” 
Xagoraraki says. “The Detroit project goes 
above and beyond simple testing of 
wastewater. We include multiple other 
data, measurements and processes to 

Student
perspectives
on Jewish
life at MSU

When we asked a few 
students to share their 
thoughts on what it’s like
 to be Jewish at MSU, we 
were blown away by their 
heartfelt responses.

strength of its Jewish 
community. As a Jew at MSU, 
I think there are a lot of 
opportunities to get 
involved. The Jewish Student 
Union holds events that 
allow people from all over to 
make strong connections 
with each other that can last 
a lifetime. There are always 
smiling faces at MSU Hillel, 
and it’s a great place to study, 
hang with friends and eat 
Friday night shabbat dinner.”

Continued on page 3

We asked: What aspects of MSU 
made you feel welcome, and 
how have your Judaism and 
MSU Hillel played a role in your 
student experience? They 
answered in ways that would 
make anyone miss the 
community and culture that 
make MSU feel like home.

Cooper Myers (’21, College of 
Natural Science): “Michigan 
State is a great place to be 
Jewish because of the diversity 
of its student body and the 

Cooper Myers (’21, College 
of Natural Science)

“MSU doesn’t 
just have a 
Jewish 
community; 
it has a Jewish 
community 
with character.”

Taylor Spurgeon-
Hess (’21, Eli Broad 
College of Business)

