Dr Meredith Hodge is a Clinical Microbiologist at PathWest Laboratory Medicine based in the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre in Perth. She achieved her medical qualifications in 1995 at the University of Western Australia. This was followed by a Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 2006 and completion of her Microbiology Fellowship through the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia in 2009. She specialises in adult and environmental microbiology, and has several years experience in managing water issues in the sterilisation/endoscopy space and in potable water systems of hospitals. She also supervises the foods laboratory where she assists in the public health management of foodborne outbreaks in Western Australia. Recent endeavours include the establishment of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in WA, and exploration of wastewater as a surveillance tool for antimicrobial resistance genes and respiratory viruses.