Singapore honours Gertjan Medema with the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2024

Principal scientist 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. On the first evening of the Singapore International Water Week, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of the Republic of Singapore presented the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize medallion to Gertjan Medema.

At the grand award ceremony in the iconic heritage site Clifford Pier, laureate Gertjan Medema spoke to President Tharman and an audience of over 270 global water leaders. “It is a great honour and privilege to receive the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize,” says Gertjan Medema. “This award signifies recognition for the innovative use of wastewater as a data source for trends in COVID-19 circulation in our cities and small communities. I also see it as a recognition of the hard work of many people in the water sector worldwide who collect COVID-19 data from wastewater to help our society respond to the pandemic. It strengthens the relationships between the water and health sectors. In the post-pandemic world, sewage monitoring is firmly established as a tool for public health surveillance for an increasing number of diseases.”

From left to right, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, Prize Council Chairman; Professor Gertjan Medema, Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2024 Laureate; Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of the Republic of Singapore; and Professor Leo Tan, Board Member of Temasek Foundation. (Photo credit: SIWW2024).

The laureate amidst his traveling colleagues. On the left Emile Cornelissen and on the right Dragan Savic and Jos Frijns. The latter wrote about this photo: “The president gave an impressive and substantively strong speech. Gertjan had a beautiful modest acceptance speech in which he specifically mentioned the involved KWR colleagues. All this at a prime location, and the SIWW conference has only just begun!”

The iconic heritage site ‘Clifford Pier’ in Singapore. Projected onto the ceiling are the Lee Kuan Yew laureates.

The preparations for the official ceremony are in full swing.

Professor Gertjan Medema

Groundbreaking research

With the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020, Gertjan Medema and his colleagues recognised the need for early detection and monitoring. They began collecting sewage samples at nine locations in the Netherlands to test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results were promising, as traces of the virus were detected in the sewage of several cities before they were officially reported.

Medema’s work has been groundbreaking in establishing sewage epidemiology as a tool for public health surveillance during the pandemic. The impact of his work was evident from his first scientific publication (with over 1,400 citations and 34,000 downloads between 2020 and 2023). Sewage surveillance has since been globally recognised as a powerful tool for early detection of diseases like SARS-CoV-2, even before cases are reported via clinical tests. This, in turn, provides valuable insights into the prevalence of the virus in a community and a proven, cost-effective and non-invasive method for monitoring disease spread.

Global scientific community

Currently, over 4,000 locations in 72 countries, including Singapore, are practising sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, with Gertjan Medema directly involved in about 30% of these programs. In addition to his active engagement in international collaborations and sharing expertise and findings with the global scientific community, Medema has significantly contributed to developing international guidelines and best practices for sewage surveillance.

About the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize

The presentation of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize is the highlight of the Singapore International Water Week. Launched in 2008, the Singapore government awards this prize to individuals or organisations for outstanding contributions to solving global water problems through developing or applying innovative technologies or implementing policies and programs that benefit humanity. The prize is named after Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.