American microbiologist Prof Joan Bray Rose has been awarded the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize for pioneering the development and global adoption of Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA), a science-based framework that transformed how water utilities assess and manage pathogen risks in drinking water and water reuse systems.
Her work laid the foundation for modern microbial risk management, enabling regulators and utilities worldwide to move from reactive ‘detect and correct’ approaches to predictive, prevention-led water safety strategies. QMRA has since been incorporated into global drinking water standards, including guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).
Prof Rose said the award reflected decades of collective progress in microbial risk science and its role in safeguarding public health.
“Safe water is one of the world’s most fundamental yet unevenly distributed resources critical to sustaining human life,” she said. “As microbial risks continue to evolve, strengthening the robustness of our water systems remains an ongoing endeavour to ensure they remain dependable and resilient.”
Prof Rose, currently the Homer Nowlin chair in water research and director of the water alliance at Michigan State University, first rose to prominence during investigations into major waterborne disease outbreaks in the US in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Her research identified cryptosporidium as the cause of the 1993 Milwaukee outbreak, one of the largest recorded waterborne disease incidents in US history, which sickened more than 400,000 people.
The findings exposed critical vulnerabilities in conventional water treatment and monitoring systems, prompting Prof Rose to pioneer QMRA as a framework for quantifying infection risks and strengthening water safety standards.
Beyond drinking water, her work advanced the safe adoption of water reuse globally. Prof Rose advised California regulators on potable reuse frameworks that later became reference models for reuse standards in countries including Australia and Spain.
Her contributions have also had a lasting impact in Singapore. Prof Rose worked with PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency for more than two decades and played a key advisory role in the development of NEWater, Singapore’s recycled water initiative launched in 2003. She served on the NEWater expert panel between 1998 and 2002 and later chaired PUB’s external audit panel from 2003-2019.
PUB said QMRA has strengthened Singapore’s ability to use water quality surveillance data to guide treatment processes and ensure compliance with international drinking water standards.
Prof Rose will receive the award, which includes a gold medallion and S$300,000 presented in partnership with Temasek Foundation, during the opening ceremony of Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2026 on 16 Jun 2026.