American microbiologist behind global water safety breakthrough wins 2026 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize
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Professor Joan Bray Rose has been awarded the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize for pioneering Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA), a science-based approach to safeguard drinking water quality. Her work has transformed microbial risk management and guided policies protecting public health worldwide.
Professor Joan Bray Rose has been awarded the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize for her pioneering work on Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA). QMRA is a science-based approach to assessing pathogen risks in water, which has been adopted into global drinking water standards. In the 1990s, Rose led a team investigating waterborne disease outbreaks in the US, including a 1993 Cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Milwaukee that sickened 403,000 people. She demonstrated that Cryptosporidium was a widespread zoonotic pathogen transmitted through contaminated drinking water. Rose's work on QMRA introduced a systematic approach to assess and manage microbial risks, shifting water management from reactive to proactive strategies. QMRA is now used worldwide, enabling water utilities to define treatment requirements based on tolerable health risks.
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