VEME: A Global Network That Opens Doors Prof Juliana de Araújo’s perspective and advances in wastewater surveillance research.
The 29th International Workshop on Virus Evolution and Molecular Epidemiology (VEME) will take place in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from 6–11 September 2026. Over six intensive days of lectures, practical sessions, and keynote presentations, leading researchers from around the world will provide in-depth training in bioinformatics applied to virus evolution and molecular epidemiology. Participants gain both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to tackle complex genomic questions, contribute to research, and support public health initiatives.
But what sets VEME apart is not only the training. It is the network it builds, and the opportunities that follow – connecting science directly to public health action.
For Prof Juliana Calabria de Araújo, a Full Professor at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, that impact is clear in her day-to-day work. Prof de Araújo has attended VEME twice, first in the Next-Generation Sequencing module in 2023 in South Africa, and second in the Genomic Surveillance for Public Health module in 2024 – in Brasília, Brazil.
Attending VEME for the first time in 2023, what stood out most to Prof de Araújo was how the learning translated directly into real-world application. “The ability to detect viruses circulating within the community (and even estimate viral load) through wastewater analysis, was a key takeout,” she explains. “Just as important was understanding how genomic data can be integrated with epidemiological information to identify variants, track transmission, and detect emerging threats early enough to act.”
Building on this, VEME 2024 further refined her view of genomics in public health – highlighting how genomic surveillance can be translated into actionable strategies. It reinforced the importance of combining genomic, epidemiological, and environmental data, such as wastewater monitoring, and the need to connect data generation with policy implementation. As she puts it, genomics is “not only a research tool, but a critical component of public health infrastructure.”
Prof Araujo’s work focuses on wastewater-based surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and pathogens, including leading SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in Belo Horizonte during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work provided critical evidence to local health authorities, supporting decisions to reduce transmission. She is now coordinating a major project on genomic sewage surveillance for multiple viruses, using both municipal and hospital wastewater to track population health and epidemiological trends. A major part of the development in her work came through the people she met.
Following VEME, Prof de Araújo strengthened interactions with public health laboratories in Brazil, as well as with the World Health Organization (WHO) and municipal and state health departments in Minas Gerais in Brazil. These engagements created opportunities to demonstrate how genomic sequencing of wastewater can be used to detect viruses circulating in the population as a complementary epidemiological tool. She also strengthened collaborations with colleagues at Fiocruz.
This network has had a direct impact on Prof de Araújo’s work. Since attending VEME, she has expanded the use of genomic surveillance in her projects, applying its methods to detect and characterise viruses and antimicrobial resistance genes in wastewater, and embedding these approaches into research that supports public health decision-making.
Prof de Araújo’s experience shows why VEME is different. It provides not just technical training, but a practical understanding of how to apply genomics in real-world settings – and a network that opens doors to do so.
Photo: Prof de Araújo (far left, blue jacket) attending the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) module of VEME in 2023 in South Africa.
News date: 2026-03-24
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