The Humanitarian Water Lab find ways to get safe, healthy water to vulnerable people in humanitarian crises and resource-constrained settings around the world. We work with people affected by crises and frontline responders to identify critical gaps in knowledge and practice wherever water intersects with human health. We bring together people with the right kinds of expertise and experience to catalyze transdisciplinary research; design, test, and refine solutions, and translate research to change real-world practice, all with the aim of helping to improve health, well-being, and dignity of vulnerable people. The Lab has three core areas of activity:
- Critical problem-solving research on pressing water and healthchallenges;
- Training and professional development onwater, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)in emergencies; and
- Convening international eventsto advance thehumanitarian water engineering research agenda.
Selected Research Initiatives
- Safe Water Optimization Tool: Advanced water quality data analytics for ensuring water safety and protecting public health in humanitarian emergencies:
- Chemical water quality andpotentialhealth effectsfor children with severe acute malnutrition:e.g.,
- Sub-chronic health risks for vulnerable populations due to disinfection by-products inwater systems in Canada andhumanitarianandLMICsettings (new)
- Linking water quality, microbiological indicators, and epidemiological data using machine learningto create predictive waterborne disease risk management tools(new)
Selected Training & Professional Development Initiatives
- Humanitarian Water Engineering Intensive Course:/dighr/project/hwe/
Selected Events Initiatives:
- Emergency Data Science—Taking Advantage of the Data Flood2018:An internationalworkshop on building humanitarian decision-making tools in the age of big data:
- Is Humanitarian Water Safe? Pt. II(new): A ten-year follow-up to the2011Is Humanitarian Water Safeto Drink?Eventconvened byMédecinsSansFrontières:
Selected Research Outputs
De Santi, M., U. T. Khan, M. Arnold, J. Fesselet, and S. I. Ali (2021). ‘Forecasting point-of-consumption chlorine residual in refugee settlements using ensembles of artificial neural networks,’ npj Clean Water, 4 (35). doi:
Ali, S. I., S. S. Ali, and J. Fesselet (2021). ‘Modelling post-distribution chlorine decay in refugee camps: Evidence-based guidance for water chlorination in humanitarian emergencies,’ Water Research, 189(116642). doi: .
“Development of a machine-learning enabled Safe Water Optimization Tool for humanitarian response” Presentation at the 2020 Médecins Sans Frontières Scientific Days Conference, May 13-14, 2020:
Lab Leadership
Primary Investigator: Syed Imran Ali, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research
Faculty Advisor: Prof. James Orbinski, O.C., M.A., M.Sc., M.D., Director, Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research
Themes | Global Health & Humanitarianism |
Status | Active |
Related Work |
N/A
|
Updates |
Hot off the Press – New Opinion Article Publication: DATA: A Key for Unlocking Quality in WASH Programming | November 21, 2024
Recap —Humanitarian Water Engineering: Priorities for Health in Humanitarian Emergencies, with Syed Imran Ali | October 17, 2024 Researchers Publish First-Of-Its-Kind Study in "Water" | April 1, 2019 |
People |
Syed Imran Ali, Research Fellow, Global Health and Humanitarianism - Active
James Brown, Associate Course Director, Humanitarian Water Engineering; Technical Advisor, Safe Water Optimization Tool - Active |
You may also be interested in...
Recap — ConnectingOurWorktoMovementsforSocialJustice: Critical Perspectives in Global Health Symposium
How should global health researchers understand the world, define their values, and act collectively in the face of profound inequity? These were amongst the questions that framed this year’s Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global ...Read more about this Post
2023 Graduate Research Spotlighted at Annual Dahdaleh Graduate Symposium
The Dahdaleh Institute hosted its 4th Annual Annual Global Health Graduate Scholars Symposium on Wed. December 13, 2023. Joined by 20 attendees, the superb presentation line-up featured research addressing some of the most pressing issues ...Read more about this Post
Recap – Beyond Divestment: Toxic Legacies of the Oil and Gas Industry from the Niger Delta to North America, with Anna Zalik and Isaac Osuoka
On November 26, 2025, Dahdaleh Institute Faculty Fellow Anna Zalik and Isaac Osuoka, Coordinator at Social Action International, delivered a presentation examining the toxic legacies of the oil and gas industry. Their discussion drew upon ...Read more about this Post