Regina Sommer, Head of the Department of Water Hygiene at MedUni Vienna’s Institute of Hygiene and Applied Immunology (Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology), has been appointed a Fellow by the International Water Association (IWA).
IWA Fellows are leading personalities in science, technology and management in the constantly evolving water sector. They have made outstanding contributions to the field of water and to the IWA. Recognition is based on a rigorous review of past contributions to the sector and the IWA.
The International Water Association (IWA) is the leading network and global knowledge hub for water professionals and connects scientists with professionals and communities so that pioneering research provides sustainable solutions. IWA is a non-profit organisation, has a legacy of over 70 years and about 10.000 members in over 140 countries.
About the person
Regina Sommer studied food and biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. She completed her PhD at the Institute of Hygiene at the Medical University of Vienna, where she habilitated in water and food hygiene in 1999. Sommer has headed the research unit of Water Hygiene at the Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology since 1998, where she established the accredited Vienna Hygiene Testing and Inspection Center in 2004. Together with Andreas Farnleitner (TU Vienna, KL Krems), she is co-head of the Interuniversity Cooperation Center (ICC) Water and Health, which she co-founded and which was established between MedUni Vienna, TU Vienna and Karl Landsteiner University Krems. She was also awarded the Austrian Hygiene Prize in 1992 and 2000, was Chairwoman of the Austrian Society for Hygiene, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine and is Chairwoman of the Drinking Water Codex Commission of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection.
