Renowned scientist and the winner of IWA’s Global Water Award, Professor Joan Rose, has been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2026 for her work as a key pioneer in the development and global adoption of Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA).
Professor Joan Rose is Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research and Director of the Water Alliance at Michigan State University, USA. She is the world’s authority on Cryptosporidium and the first person to present a method for detecting this pathogen in water supplies.
She is a global leader on wastewater surveillance, with her work on water reuse, pathogen removal, the source tracking of pathogens, and climate and waterborne diseases, contributing to international understanding of the impact of water quality on health. She was awarded IWA’s highest global accolade – the Global Water Award – in 2024.
