Dr. Natalie Prystajecky is an Environmental Microbiologist at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory and a Clinical Associate Professor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Her work is at the intersect of environmental exposures (food and water) and clinical outcomes. She uses emerging technologies to improve routine surveillance and outbreak investigations for foodborne and waterborne pathogens. she has received grant funding from the BCCDC Foundation, Canadian Water Network, NSERC, Genome BC and Genome Canada. Her current research interests include development of new water quality tests using metagenomics, targeted resequencing of wetland sediments to study the emergence of avian influenza strains and whole genome sequencing of Giardia and Salmonella. She is keen to promote the translation of research methods to routine testing in diagnostic and reference laboratories.