A constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)
(AUTONOMOUS ORGANISATION UNDER THE DEPT. OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH, MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, GOVT. OF INDIA)
The Environmental Epidemiology and Pandemic Management (EE&PM) lab at CSIR-NEERI has been designated as a WHO Reference Laboratory and Collaborating Centre for Environmental Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. This highlights its contributions to developing wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) methods for monitoring viral pathogens in community settings. As part of the WHO South-East Asia Region (SEARO) network, CSIR-NEERI supports regional efforts to strengthen early warning systems and pandemic preparedness.
Additionally, CSIR-NEERI has been included in the WHO Multi-Pathogen Wastewater Environmental Surveillance (WES) Global Network Facility. This expands its scope to include surveillance of multiple pathogens such as influenza, enteric viruses, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers. Through the integration of genomic analysis, bioinformatics, and environmental monitoring, the EE&PM lab contributes to public health strategies and supports global efforts to enhance health system resilience through scalable environmental surveillance approaches.
