January 28, 2027 @ 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm New York
Live Virtual Event
From Guesswork to Evidence: Applying Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) to Infection Prevention and Environmental Hygiene
Prof. Kelly Reynolds, The University of Arizona
Free
Teleclass
Live broadcast time:
1:30pm-2:30pm in New York / Toronto
7:30pm in Geneva
5:30am (January 29) in Sydney
3:30pm in Buenos Aires
9:30pm in Riyadh
18:30 UTC
Objectives
- Define QMRA and explain its six-step framework, from hazard identification through risk communication, and articulate why it offers a more rigorous basis for IPC policy than traditional visual or clinical standards alone.
- Interpret real-world QMRA data from field studies in hospitals, hotels, offices, schools, and public buildings to identify high-risk surfaces, behaviors, and transmission pathways that drive infection spread.
- Compare hygiene interventions quantitatively using measurable risk-reduction metrics to distinguish between interventions that merely appear effective and those that demonstrably move infection probability below accepted thresholds (e.g., fewer than 1 infection per 10,000 exposures).
- Apply QMRA-derived risk thresholds to set science-based, defensible hygiene targets tailored to specific facility types and occupancy patterns.
- Articulate the economic and policy case for targeted hygiene, including quantifiable reductions in sick days and healthcare costs, and describe how QMRA is increasingly recognized by WHO, CDC, EPA, and FDA as the standard for risk-based environmental health decisions.