Associate Research Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
I am the founding director of the Duke Smart Toilet Lab, dedicated to the opportunities that data-rich human excreta offer to improve individual and public health. The objective is to empower individuals and groups in communal living with health information for early warning of disease, health and wellness and management of chronic diseases through wastewater analysis, without any changes of daily habits. I am passionate about the opportunities that advanced sanitation technologies offer to improve global health and to provide a paradigm shift in health screening both for individuals and for communities.
As a major project of my research portfolio over the past 5 years, I have led the field testing of 10+ onsite sanitation technology prototypes from multiple organizations in international settings. I have managed yearlong deployments of sophisticated chemo-mechanical systems with electronic monitoring connected to wastewater pipes of buildings, ensuring no disruption of service to users while evaluating the treatment process performance.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Associate Research Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Contact Information
- Office Location: 701 W.Main Street, Durham, NC 27708
- Office Phone: (919) 660-5353
- Email Address: sonia.grego@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- M.S. Università di Pisa (Italy), 1995
- Ph.D. University of Copenhagen (Denmark), 1999
Courses Taught
- ECE 392: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- EGR 391: Projects in Engineering
In the News
- Making a Cleaner World, One Flush at a Time (Sep 8, 2023 | Duke Magazine)
- ’Smart Toilet’ Uses Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Bowel Health (May 24, 2021)
- Comparing the Swab to the Sewer (Mar 4, 2021 | Pratt School of Engineering)
- Smart Toilet Saves Vital Health Data from Getting Flushed (Feb 3, 2020 | Bass Connections)
Representative Publications
- Zhou, J., J. McNabb, N. Decapite, J. R. Ruiz, D. A. Fisher, S. Grego, and K. Chakrabarty. “Stool Image Analysis for Digital Health Monitoring By Smart Toilets.” IEEE Internet of Things Journal 10, no. 5 (March 1, 2023): 3720–34. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2022.3158886.
- Subramani, P., M. Basil, P. Rosario, D. R. Jalaja, V. Choudhary, J. Renganathan, L. Philip, et al. “Water recycling public toilets based on onsite electrochemical wastewater treatment.” Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology, January 1, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ew00454f.
- Kachoria, Prateek, Sarani Sasidaran, Claire M. Welling, Praveen Rosario, Jin Zhou, Krishnendu Chakrabarty, Harald Gründl, Lotte Kristoferitsch, and Sonia Grego. “Sensor-based evaluation of a Urine Trap toilet in a shared bathroom.” The Science of the Total Environment 857, no. Pt 1 (January 2023): 159178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159178.
- Welling, Claire M., David R. Singleton, Steven B. Haase, Christian H. Browning, Brian R. Stoner, Claudia K. Gunsch, and Sonia Grego. “Predictive values of time-dense SARS-CoV-2 wastewater analysis in university campus buildings.” The Science of the Total Environment 835 (August 2022): 155401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155401.
- Grego, Sonia, Claire M. Welling, Graham H. Miller, Peter F. Coggan, Katelyn L. Sellgren, Brian T. Hawkins, Geoffrey S. Ginsburg, Jose R. Ruiz, Deborah A. Fisher, and Brian R. Stoner. “A hands-free stool sampling system for monitoring intestinal health and disease.” Scientific Reports 12, no. 1 (June 2022): 10859. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14803-9.