The Drinking Water Tool (DWT) is a community-driven online tool that provides diverse users with information about drinking water sources and threats to drinking water quality and access due to drought. Development of the DWT was guided by the Community Water Center (CWC) as part of the Water Equity Science Shop (WESS), a research partnership integrating elements of community-based participatory research and the European Science Shop model. The WESS engages in scientific projects that inform policy change, advance water justice, and reduce cumulative exposure and disproportionate health burdens among impacted communities in California. WESS researchers conducted qualitative analysis of 15 stakeholder interviews regarding the DWT, including iterative feedback and the stakeholder consultation process as well as stakeholder perceptions of the tool's impact on California water policy, organizing, and research. Results indicate that the DWT and the stakeholder engagement process which developed it were effective in influencing policy priorities and in promoting interagency coordination at multiple levels to address water equity challenges and their disproportionate burdens, particularly among rural and low socioeconomic status areas and communities of color.

Recent prostate-specific antigen-based screening trials indicate an urgent need for novel and noninvasive biomarker identification strategies to improve the prediction of prostate cancer behavior. Noncoding microRNAs (miRNA) in the serum and plasma have been shown to have potential as noninvasive markers for physiologic and pathologic conditions. To identify serum miRNAs that diagnose and correlate with the prognosis of prostate cancer, we developed a multiplex quantitative reverse transcription PCR method involving the purification of multiplex PCR products followed by uniplex analysis on a microfluidics chip to evaluate 384 human miRNAs. Using Dgcr8 and Dicer knockout (small RNA-deficient) mouse ES cells as the benchmark, we confirmed the validity of our technique and uncovered a considerable lack of accuracy in previously published methods. Profiling 48 sera from healthy men and untreated prostate cancer patients with differing CAPRA scores, we identified miRNA signatures that allow us to diagnose cancer patients and correlate with a prognosis. These serum signatures include oncogenic and tumor-suppressive miRNAs, suggesting functional roles in prostate cancer progression.