Dr. Rachel Spurbeck is a Senior Genomics Research Scientist at Battelle Memorial Institute, specializing in biosurveillance, diagnostics, and therapeutics. She leads several high-impact projects, including the microbial metagenomic sequencing program for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), which monitors microbial communities across the U.S. Dr. Spurbeck also spearheaded wastewater-based epidemiology efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio and developed advanced methods for pathogen detection in environmental and clinical samples. Notably, her work includes virome sequencing in mosquitoes to track vector-borne diseases and ongoing research identifying pathogens in Alaskan permafrost. Her innovations in genomics are crucial for addressing emerging public health threats.
Infectious disease genomic surveillance to limit outbreaks
Dr. Rachel Spurbeck is a Senior Genomics Research Scientist at Battelle Memorial Institute who leads exposure health efforts in biosurveillance, diagnostics and therapeutics. She initiated the microbial metagenomic sequencing program for the National Ecological Observatory Network, which catalogs the microbial communities from soil and water from 81 sites across the United States. She led wastewater-based epidemiology efforts tracking the COVID-19 pandemic and other pathogens of significance to public health in the state of Ohio and has developed laboratory methods to accurately identify pathogens in environmental and clinical samples. Methods she has developed enable virome sequencing in vector organisms to identify vector-borne diseases in endemic and invasive mosquitoes. She is currently the genomics lead for a program identifying pathogens in permafrost samples from Alaska and comparing the organisms identified to soil, ground and surface water samples.