December 20, 2023 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

Mirza Isanovic has been learning about environmental health since he enrolled at USC more than 12 years ago. Bosnia and Herzegovina-born and Columbia-raised, he has been interested in the field for as long as he can remember.

As a marine sciences major, his first academic introduction to the environment was focused on water. He adopted a microbiological approach after joining environmental health sciences associate professor Sean Norman’s Molecular Microbial Ecology Lab as a technician.

“I got exposed to not only a microbiological approach to environmental health – which I found fascinating – but also to the connection between environmental and public health,” Isanovic says.

This experience led him to pursue M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental health sciences. Through his coursework and research in the lab, Isanovic has spent the past five years developing his expertise. His niche involves monitoring antibiotic resistant bacteria in wastewater treatment plants.

“My research looks at the potential bacteria that could be harboring these genes, and how these genes may be impacting the local communities near these treatment plants,” he says. “(My mentors) have helped me go from just doing science for the sake of science to looking at ways that my science can have an impact on the well-being of our communities.”

When called into service during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team used these skills to measure the presence of SARS-CoV-2 to monitor community viral loads. With his dissertation project, Isanovic showed that this method can be used to develop targeted pandemic response strategies. He also found that wastewater treatment plants release antibiotic resistant genes into the atmosphere – increasing exposure to humans and the environment.

Isanovic plans to apply these lessons in the next phase of his career. A position with a public health agency, like the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would allow him to continue addressing antibiotic resistance through the detection and investigation of bacteria that reside in wastewater treatment plants and disperse into the air of local communities.

The Norman J Arnold Fellow graduates this month with several peer-reviewed papers to his name. He is also the recipient of his department’s Master’s Student Excellent Award and Outstanding Public Health Service Award. 

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