Tala Navab-Daneshmand

Tala Navab-Daneshmand is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of Graduate Programs in the Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering Department at Oregon State University's College of Engineering. She holds the Warwick Family Engineering Faculty Scholar position and leads the Navab Lab, which focuses on environmental engineering research related to water quality and public health.

Dr. Navab-Daneshmand earned her educational degrees from:

• PhD in Environmental Engineering from McGill University, Montréal
• MSc in Environmental Engineering from Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
• BSc in Civil Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran

Dr. Navab-Daneshmand's research primarily focuses on the fate of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from wastewater systems to environmental reservoirs. Her work investigates microbial communities' structure and function in both engineered and natural systems, with the goal of designing solutions to reduce human health risks. The Navab Lab employs interdisciplinary approaches combining microbiology, molecular biology, process engineering, and statistics to address these critical environmental health challenges. Her research has significant implications for wastewater treatment practices, biosolids management, and water quality protection.

Analysis of Dr. Navab-Daneshmand's recent publications reveals a strong focus on antibiotic resistance transmission through water and soil pathways, with particular attention to the connections between environmental contamination and public health outcomes. Her work spans laboratory, field, and computational approaches across multiple continents, examining how wastewater treatment processes affect antibiotic resistance gene transfer and how environmental reservoirs contribute to human exposure.

Dr. Navab-Daneshmand has been recognized with the Warwick Family Engineering Faculty Scholar award, highlighting her contributions to engineering education and research.

Dr. Navab-Daneshmand actively mentors a diverse group of students at various academic levels, including PhD, Master's, and undergraduate researchers. Her lab has received funding for projects such as the ISS Biofilms in Space Project and research on antibiotic resistance in wastewater systems across Oregon. She has also secured international research opportunities, including work in Bangladesh examining connections between arsenic exposure and antibiotic resistance.

The Navab Lab maintains active research teams investigating multiple aspects of water quality and pathogen transmission. Current projects include studies on antibiotic resistance in municipal wastewater, bioremediation of wastewater effluents, biofilm architecture in space environments, and the impact of biosolids on soil resistome. The lab collaborates with researchers across disciplines and has established international partnerships for field research in countries including Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.