Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize for Gertjan Medema

Professor Gertjan Medema has been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2024 for his groundbreaking research and significant contributions to sewage epidemiology for virus detection in wastewater during the COVID-19 pandemic. His timely research breakthrough enabled the use of wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of the Republic of Singapore presented the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize medallion to Gertjan Medema. At the beginning of the pandemic, he and his team were the first to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in the Netherlands. His research enabled the use of wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic to stop the spread of the virus and had a global impact.

The award was presented during the Singapore International Water Week, who made this film about Gertjan Medema's work: