SINGAPORE – A microbiologist who transformed the science of measuring risk posed by harmful microbes in water is the recipient of the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.
American scientist Joan Bray Rose, 72, was named the winner on April 16 as a key pioneer of an approach that safeguards the quality of water reuse systems like NEWater, and shaped water management here and beyond.
Her accolade, which honours outstanding contributions to solving global water challenges, was announced by national water agency PUB’s chief executive Ong Tze-Ch’in at a press conference.
“By enabling the mathematical quantification of infection risks, Professor Rose has provided the world a global approach for defining, managing and regulating water safety,” Mr Ong told the media.
“Her work ensures communities worldwide have access to safe drinking water and water for reuse.”
Professor Rose gained prominence from the late 1980s when she led a team to investigate a microscopic parasite, Cryptosporidium, responsible for a spate of waterborne disease outbreaks.
This included a 1993 outbreak in the American Midwestern state of Milwaukee that killed at least 69 people and caused more than 400,000 people to fall ill.
Prof Rose was the first to demonstrate that the parasite was the cause of these outbreaks, and that the transmission of the disease had occurred because of inadequately filtered and disinfected drinking water supplies.
At the time, tests for water safety gave results only after water had been consumed, and also offered limited protection against non-bacterial waterborne contaminants.
To plug this critical gap, Prof Rose and her collaborators pioneered quantitative microbial risk assessment, a method that gauges risk through factors like the concentration of microbes, exposure pathways and potency.
