Faculty profile

Robert Delatolla

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Full ProfessorDepartment of Civil EngineeringUniversity of Ottawa

Robert Delatolla

Full Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Faculty of Engineering

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Supervision signals

Professors usually supervise graduate students in their department's programs.
38 publications in the last five years, latest in 2026.
Senior (last) author on 21 recent papers, a sign of leading a research group.
Principal investigator on 16 research grants (12 NSERC, 4 CIHR), most recently in 2025.
Supervisor on 1 trainee award (1 CIHR), most recently in 2026.

These signals come from public records, including CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions. Ask the professor or the graduate program whether they are taking new students.

Academic metrics

Publications

179

Citations

Collaborators

Grants

Publications by year

Counts cover the publications linked to this profile. Citations and the h-index appear when the source records them.

Profiles and links

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Signals and details

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Ottawa profile.

Wastewater Surveillance One Health Wastewater Biomarkers Population Health Community Disease COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2

Latest papers

From plant pathogen to public health tool: A review of tobamoviruses and their role in wastewater & environmental surveillance.
Journal of water and health · 2026 · senior author
Cost-effectiveness of wastewater and environmental monitoring of respiratory syncytial virus to guide universal infant immunoprophylaxis in Canada
Journal of Medical Economics · 2025 · senior author
Partitioning and probe-based quantitative PCR assays for the wastewater monitoring of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. tuberculosis, and M. bovis.
Journal of water and health · 2025 · senior author

All 68 publications

Latest funding

Evaluating the impact of reduced wastewater sampling frequency on public health trend interpretation
CIHR · 2026 · Supervisor
$6,000
SLINGSHOT (Kashipessapent) - Strengthening Land-based INnu knowledge for well-being through Gathered Stories of waters, Healthy land and wildlife, Our people, and Trusted one health data
CIHR · 2025 · Nominated PI
$2,470,952
Evaluation, Optimization and Harmonization of Methods and Strategies for a One Health, Pan-Canadian Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance System Positioned at the Wild Bird - Farm Animal - Human Interface
CIHR · 2024 · Nominated PI
$150,000

All 22 grants and awards

68 publications.

From plant pathogen to public health tool: A review of tobamoviruses and their role in wastewater & environmental surveillance.

D'Aoust PM, Mercier E, Nguyen TB, Wan S, Wong CH, Hegazy N, Renouf EM, Graber TE, Delatolla R

Journal of water and health2026Senior author

DOI: 10.2166/wh.2026.261 PMID: 42378419

Cost-effectiveness of wastewater and environmental monitoring of respiratory syncytial virus to guide universal infant immunoprophylaxis in Canada

Mercier É, Fullarton JR, Paes BA, Keary IP, Rodgers-Gray BS, Thampi N, Delatolla R

Journal of Medical Economics20252 citationsSenior author

DOI: 10.1080/13696998.2025.2473810

Partitioning and probe-based quantitative PCR assays for the wastewater monitoring of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. tuberculosis, and M. bovis.

Nguyen T, Mercier E, Wong CH, Hegazy N, Kabir MP, Tomalty E, Addo F, Ward L, Renouf E, Wan S, Tcholakov Y, Guilherme S, Delatolla R

Journal of water and health2025Senior author

DOI: 10.2166/wh.2025.102 PMID: 41170952

Passive sampling for genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater resource recovery facility: Insights for pandemic preparedness.

Kabir MP, Plaza-Diaz J, Mercier É, Wan S, Hegazy N, Wong C, Addo F, Renouf E, Lawal OU, Goodridge L, Graber TE, Delatolla R

Water research2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2025.124071 PMID: 40570499

Learning associations of COVID-19 hospitalizations with wastewater viral signals by Markov modulated models.

Peng KK, Dean CB, Hu XJ, Delatolla R

Epidemics2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.epidem.2025.100840 PMID: 40684754

Optimization of the Primary Sludge Processing Method for Wastewater Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV‑2.

Kabir MP, Plaza-Diaz J, Mercier É, D'Aoust PM, Goodridge L, Lawal OU, Wan S, Hegazy N, Nguyen T, Wong C, Addo F, Renouf E, Graber TE, Delatolla R

ACS ES&T water2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.5c00142 PMID: 40808831

Variability of Clinical Metrics in Small Population Communities Drive Perceived Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance Data Quality: Ontario, Canada-Wide Study.

Hegazy N, Peng KK, D'Aoust PM, Pisharody L, Mercier E, Ramsay NT, Kabir MP, Nguyen TB, Tomalty E, Addo F, Wong CH, Wan S, Hu J, Dean C, Yang MI, Dhiyebi H, Edwards EA, Servos MR, Ybazeta G, Habash M, Goodridge L, Poon AFY, Arts EJ, Brown S, Payne SJ, Kirkwood A, Simmons DBD, Desaulniers JP, Ormeci B, Kyle C, Bulir D, Charles T, McKay RM, Gilbride KA, Oswald CJ, Peng H, DeGroot C, WSI Consortium, Renouf E, Delatolla R

ACS ES&T water2025

DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.4c00958 PMID: 40242342

Diagnostic performance of allele-specific RT-qPCR and genomic sequencing in wastewater-based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.

Kabir MP, Mercier É, Eid W, Plaza-Diaz J, D'Aoust PM, Landgraff C, Goodridge L, Lawal OU, Wan S, Hegazy N, Nguyen T, Wong C, Thakali O, Pisharody L, Stephenson S, Graber TE, Delatolla R

Eco-Environment & Health2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100135 PMID: 40226805

Detection of Measles Virus Genotype A in a Non-Endemic Wastewater Setting: Insights from Measles Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring in Canada's Capital Region.

Tomalty E, Mercier É, Pisharody L, Nguyen T, Tian X, Kabir MP, Wong C, Addo F, Hegazy N, Renouf E, Friedman DS, Wan S, Delatolla R

Environmental science & technology letters2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00945 PMID: 39957786

Sewer transport conditions and their role in the decay of endogenous SARS-CoV-2 and pepper mild mottle virus from source to collection.

Mercier É, D'Aoust PM, Eid W, Hegazy N, Kabir P, Wan S, Pisharody L, Renouf E, Stephenson S, Graber TE, MacKenzie AE, Delatolla R

International journal of hygiene and environmental health2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114477 PMID: 39378553

Evaluating the impact of reduced wastewater sampling frequency on public health trend interpretation

SupervisorCIHR2026Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

Principal investigators: Nedell, Aria

Keywords: Public Health; Respiratory Disease Trends; Wastewater Sampling Frequency

$6,000

SLINGSHOT (Kashipessapent) - Strengthening Land-based INnu knowledge for well-being through Gathered Stories of waters, Healthy land and wildlife, Our people, and Trusted one health data

Nominated PICIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Delatolla, Robert; Guilherme, Stephanie; Morton Ninomiya, Melody; Provencher, Jennifer F

Keywords: Community-Partnered Research; Indigenous Health; Innu Knowledge Systems; One Health; Pathogen And Contaminant Environmental Monitoring; Population Health; Wastewater Monitoring; Water Health

$2,470,952

Evaluation, Optimization and Harmonization of Methods and Strategies for a One Health, Pan-Canadian Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance System Positioned at the Wild Bird - Farm Animal - Human Interface

Nominated PICIHR2024Catalyst Grant: Avian Influenza OneHealth Research

Principal investigators: Delatolla, Robert; Meunier, Isabelle; Prystajecky, Natalie Anne

Keywords: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza; Method Evaluation, Optimization And Harmonization; One Health; Pan-Canadian Surveillance; Sampling, Storage Evaluation, Optimization And Harmonization; Wastewater And Environmental Surveillance; Wild Bird - Animal Farm - Human Interface

$150,000

Wastewater-based health monitoring in northern communities in Nunavik

Co-investigatorNSERC2024Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Guilherme, Stéphanie S

Keywords: arctic communities; covid-19; indigenous communities; infectious diseases; influenza; nunavik; public health; tuberculosis; wastewater; wastewater based epidemiology

$363,470

Wastewater-Based Surveillance Integration with Health Decision-Making: Protection Against Health Threats and Promotion of Health Equity

Nominated PICIHR2023Applied Public Health Chair - Environment, Climate Change, and One Health

Principal investigators: Delatolla, Robert

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Health; Health Equity; Infectious Diseases; One Health; Pandemic Preparedness; Wastewater-Based Surveillance

$1,150,000

The Taima TB wastewater study

Principal investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Alvarez, Gonzalo G; Allen, Jean M; Delatolla, Robert; Sun, Jim

Keywords: Biomarkers; Inuit; Population Health; Tuberculosis; Wastewater

$3,037,050

Development of Responsive, Reliable and Accurate Wastewater Surveillance Diagnostics of Infectious Diseases

Principal investigatorNSERC2022Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Delatolla, Robert R

Keywords: biomarkers; fate and degradation; influenza - flu; monkeypox virus - mpxv; respiratory syncytial virus - rsv; wastewater based epidemiology; wastewater partitioning; wastewater surveillance

$405,000

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Wastewater Surveillance for Pandemic Preparedness

Principal investigatorNSERC2022Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Delatolla, Robert

Keywords: wastewater; wastewater surveillance; community disease; sars-cov-2; covid-19

$129,000

Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network: CoVaRR-Net - Extension

Co-investigatorCIHR2021Op. Gr.: Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network (CoVaRR-Net) Extension

Principal investigators: Langlois, Marc-Andre; Abraham, Ninan; Behr, Marcel A; Brouwers, Melissa C; Crawley, Angela M; Flamand, Louis; Gingras, Anne-Claude; Gommerman, Jennifer L; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Hsu, Amy T; Huyser, Kimberly R; Manuel, Douglas G; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Ragoussis, Ioannis; Rasmussen, Angela; Shapiro, Jesse

Keywords: Covarr-Net; Covid-19; Rapid-Response; Sars-Cov-2; Variants Of Concern

$9,000,000

Implementing a rapid and sensitive method to quantify both SARS-CoV-2 viral load and immunity in communities.

Co-investigatorSSHRC2021New Frontiers in Research Fund - Special Call

Principal investigators: Graber, Tyson

Keywords: mucosal immunity secretory IgA immunoassay protein epidemiology vulnerable community indigenous community environmental monitoring wastewater COVID-19

$237,970

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2025

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Wastewater Surveillance Dear Professor Delatolla, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "From plant pathogen to public health tool: A review of tobamoviruses and their role in wastewater & environmental surveillance." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "SLINGSHOT (Kashipessapent) - Strengthening Land-based INnu knowledge for well-being through Gathered Stories of waters, Healthy land and wildlife, Our people, and Trusted one health data" (2025), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Profile data last refreshed on September 26, 2026 from the university directory, publication records and CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding.

Something wrong or missing on this profile? Suggest a correction

Robert Delatolla

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

From plant pathogen to public health tool: A review of tobamoviruses and their role in wastewater & environmental surveillance.

Cost-effectiveness of wastewater and environmental monitoring of respiratory syncytial virus to guide universal infant immunoprophylaxis in Canada

Partitioning and probe-based quantitative PCR assays for the wastewater monitoring of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. tuberculosis, and M. bovis.

Passive sampling for genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater resource recovery facility: Insights for pandemic preparedness.

Learning associations of COVID-19 hospitalizations with wastewater viral signals by Markov modulated models.

Optimization of the Primary Sludge Processing Method for Wastewater Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV&#x2011;2.

Variability of Clinical Metrics in Small Population Communities Drive Perceived Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance Data Quality: Ontario, Canada-Wide Study.

Diagnostic performance of allele-specific RT-qPCR and genomic sequencing in wastewater-based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.

Detection of Measles Virus Genotype A in a Non-Endemic Wastewater Setting: Insights from Measles Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring in Canada's Capital Region.

Sewer transport conditions and their role in the decay of endogenous SARS-CoV-2 and pepper mild mottle virus from source to collection.

Evaluating the impact of reduced wastewater sampling frequency on public health trend interpretation

SLINGSHOT (Kashipessapent) - Strengthening Land-based INnu knowledge for well-being through Gathered Stories of waters, Healthy land and wildlife, Our people, and Trusted one health data

Evaluation, Optimization and Harmonization of Methods and Strategies for a One Health, Pan-Canadian Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance System Positioned at the Wild Bird - Farm Animal - Human Interface

Wastewater-based health monitoring in northern communities in Nunavik

Wastewater-Based Surveillance Integration with Health Decision-Making: Protection Against Health Threats and Promotion of Health Equity

The Taima TB wastewater study

Development of Responsive, Reliable and Accurate Wastewater Surveillance Diagnostics of Infectious Diseases

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Wastewater Surveillance for Pandemic Preparedness

Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network: CoVaRR-Net - Extension

Implementing a rapid and sensitive method to quantify both SARS-CoV-2 viral load and immunity in communities.

Frequent collaborators

Lawrence Goodridge

Bradley Young

Alain Stintzi

Mark Servos

Claire Oswald

Nisha Thampi

Bosco Paes

Hui Peng

Tommy Alain

Bahram Gharabaghi

Banu Ormeci

Andrea Kirkwood

Christopher Kyle

Charles Hui

Jean-Paul Desaulniers

Trevor Charles

Majid Sartaj

Daniel Figeys

Natalie Prystajecky

Douglas Manuel

Elizabeth Edwards

Christopher DeGroot

Hossein Bonakdari

Onita Basu

Art Poon

Kimberley Gilbride

Sarah Dorner

David Champredon

Christopher Sikora

Jean-Philippe St-Pierre

Xiaoli Pang

Deena Hinshaw

Charmaine Dean

Stefan Baral

Michael Li

Michael Parkins

Eric Arts

Optimization of the Primary Sludge Processing Method for Wastewater Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV‑2.