The UN has dedicated that “access to safe water satiation and hygiene is the most basic human need for health and well-being”, but how close are we to that goal? In this panel discussion experts from policy, academia, charity, and industry discuss the future of WaSH and where universities and the UK are in solving this global challenge.

Panellists
• Dr Po-Heng (Henry) Lee (Chair) - Senior Lecturer in Wastewater Engineering at Imperial College London. Dr Lee's team focuses on resource recovery, greenhouse reduction mitigation and human health with anaerobic biotechnologies. Importantly, the focus of his research and teaching has been on surpassing classical bio-energetics limitations via discrete (quantum and quantum-like) pathways (e.g., electron/proton tunnelling, hopping, gene regulation, etc.) for sustainable unprecedented wastewater management.
• Professor Mala Rao OBE - Director of the Ethnicity and Health Unit and Senior Clinical Fellow, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, Chair of WHO South East Asia Region’s Expert Group on the Environmental Determinants of Climate Change and Health and Vice Chair of WaterAid UK. She has previously served as Head of Public Health Workforce at the Department of Health and as inaugural Director of the first Indian Institute of Public Health, under the aegis of the UK Global Health strategy. Her career has spanned public health practice, policy, research and training and her most impactful achievements have been in workforce development, strengthening health systems and environmental health in the UK and overseas. Mala is a recognised champion of climate action, safe water and sanitation and gender equity. She is also globally respected for her work to achieve race equality in the health arena and her research on the intersection between race, health and climate.
• Sir Hugh Bayley - Commissioner on Independent Commission for Aid Impact (IACI) . Sir Hugh represented York as an MP for 23 years, serving on Parliament’s International Development Committee for 14 years. He has extensive experience with development organisations, and was knighted in 2015 for services to NATO and international development.
• Dr Ana Mijic - Reader in Water Systems Integration, at Imperial College London. Ana is a Reader in Water Systems Integration and Director of the Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation. She is leading the development of novel systems tools focused on quantifying the interaction between the water cycle and sustainable development. The work has aim to inform regulatory bodies and water industry if and how we can support economic growth whilst ensuring sustainable water use and flood and water quality management under future uncertainties.
• Dr Claire Trant - Co-founder of Untap Ltd is 2021. Untap has developed a novel, automated technology to detect bio-markers in wastewater. They are currently focussing on viruses and bacteria, with future plans to detect a wider spectrum of human bio-markers. Her previous work includes in innovation in wastewater engineering, she worked on the forefront of regulation change and international innovation, and delivered international licensing agreements for nitrate and phosphate removal technologies. Claire has a PhD with Rolls Royce Aerospace, in Materials Engineering at Imperial College London.

About The Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering

The Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering (IMSE) is one of Imperial College London’s Global Institutes, drawing on the strength of its four faculties to address some of the grand challenges facing the world today. The Institute’s activities are focused on tackling problems where molecular innovation plays an important role.

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