Home

Welcome to the Kapoor Lab in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Construction Management at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Our research focuses on integration of microbial ecology, molecular biology, and environmental engineering for advancing water sustainability and its balance with concerns such as i) nutrient removal and resource recovery, ii) emerging contaminants, and waterborne pathogens, and iii) environmental and public health.

Dr. Vikram Kapoor is an Associate Professor in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Construction Management at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He received his PhD in Environmental Engineering from University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio and his Bachelor’s in Biotechnology from Jaypee Institute of Information Technology in India. Before joining UTSA in 2016, he worked as an ORISE postdoctoral research fellow at the National Risk Management Research Laboratory at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Kapoor’s research interests lies at the cross-section of environmental microbiology, biotechnology and environmental engineering incorporating a diversity of research tools such as molecular-based identification techniques, bench-scale bioreactors, bioinformatics, and different omics methods including metagenomics. 

Research

Dr. Kapoor’s research passion lies at the cross-section of environmental microbiology, biotechnology and environmental engineering incorporating a diversity of research tools such as molecular-based identification techniques, bench-scale bioreactors, bioinformatics, and different omics methods including metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. Specifically, the Kapoor Lab apply these biomolecular tools to study the role of microbial communities in natural and engineered systems. Dr. Kapoor’s research is guided by the ultimate vision that gaining a better understanding of these communities will allow us to fully harness their power towards achieving several objectives such as wastewater treatment and resource recovery, bioremediation of harmful contaminants, detection and mitigation of waterborne pathogens, and ultimately contribute to improved environmental and public health.
 

General areas of interest:

  • Biological wastewater and water treatment
  • Resource recovery from wastewater (energy, water, nutrients, chemicals)
  • Microbial source tracking
  • ​Microbial ecology of natural and engineered systems
  • Stormwater management and water quality improvement
  • Environmental and public health

Research initiatives:

Wastewater COVID Tracking Dashboard – click here

USDA EcoJEDI Program Website – click here

 

Publications

For list of publications, please visit the Google Scholar page here.

Published manuscripts

  • Vadde, K. K., Moghadam, S. V., Jafarzadeh, A., Matta, A., Phan, D. C., Johnson, D., & Kapoor, V. (2024). Precipitation impacts the physicochemical water quality and abundance of microbial source tracking markers in urban Texas watersheds. PLOS Water, 3(2), e0000209.
  • Flores, M. E., Jafarzadeh, A., Moghadam, S. V., Vadde, K. K., Dhar, D. A., Nunu, R. R., & Kapoor, V. (2023). Occurrence and removal of fecal bacteria and microbial source tracking markers in a stormwater detention basin overlying the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone in Texas. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30, 103836-103850.
  • Bowes, D., Darling, A., Driver, E., Kaya, D., Maal-Bared, R., Lee, L., Goodman, K., Adhikari, S., Aggarwal, S., Bivins, A., Bohrerova, Z., Cohen, A., Duvallet, C., Elnimeiry, R., Hutchison, J., Kapoor, V., Keenum, I., Ling, F., Sills, D., Tiwari, A., Vikesland, P., Ziels, R., & Mansfeldt, C. (2023). Structured Ethical Review for Wastewater-Based Testing to Support Public Health. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(35), 12969-12980.
  • Moghadam, S. V., Jafarzadeh, A., Matta, A., Dessouky, S., Hutchinson, J., & Kapoor, V. (2023). Water quality performance assessment of two stormwater detention basins located in the recharge zone of a karst aquifer. Chemosphere, 339, 139772.
  • Moghadam, S. V., Jafarzadeh, A., Vadde, K., Matta, A., Dessouky, S., Hutchinson, J., & Kapoor, V. (2023). Composition of soil bacterial communities associated with urban stormwater detention basins and their predicted functional roles in N cycle. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 134(8), lxad163.
  • Jafarzadeh, A., Phan, D., & Kapoor, V. (2023). Impact of nitrogen and phosphorus on the growth and microcystin-related gene expression of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806. AWWA Water Science, 5(3), e1343.
  • Al-Duroobi, H., Vadde, K. K., Phan, D. C., Moghadam, S. V., Jafarzadeh, A., Matta, A., Giacomoni, M., & Kapoor, V. (2023). Wastewater-based surveillance of COVID-19 and removal of SARS-CoV-2 RNA across a major wastewater treatment plant in San Antonio, Texas. Environmental Science: Advances, 2, 709-720.
  • Moghadam, S. V., Jafarzadeh, A., Matta, A., Dessouky, S., Hutchinson, J., & Kapoor, V. (2023). Evaluation of nitrogen removal, functional gene abundance and microbial community structure in a stormwater detention basin. Journal of Environmental Management, 325, 116669.
  • Vadde, K. K., Phan, D. C., Moghadam, S. V., Jafarzadeh, A., Matta, A., Johnson, D., & Kapoor, V. (2022). Fecal pollution source characterization in the surface waters of recharge and contributing zones of a karst aquifer using general and host-associated fecal genetic markers. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 24(12), 2450-2464.
  • Vadde, K. K., Al-Duroobi, H., Phan, D. C., Jafarzadeh, A., Moghadam, S. V., Matta, A., & Kapoor, V. (2022). Assessment of concentration, recovery, and normalization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from two wastewater treatment plants in Texas and correlation with COVID-19 cases in the community. ACS ES&T Water, 2(11), 2060-2069.
  • Moghadam, S. V., Vadde, K. K., Phan, D. C., Jafarzadeh, A., & Kapoor, V. (2022). Assessing the impact of flooding on bacterial community structure and occurrence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in Texas Rivers after Hurricane Harvey. Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, 3, 100058.
  • Kapoor, V., Al-Duroobi, H., Phan, D. C., Palekar, R. S., Blount, B., & Rambhia, K. J. (2022). Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 to support return to campus: Methodological considerations and data interpretation. Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health, 100362.
  • Al-Duroobi, H., Moghadam, S. V., Phan, D. C., Jafarzadeh, A., Matta, A., & Kapoor, V. (2021). Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 corroborates heightened community infection during the initial peak of COVID-19 in Bexar County, Texas. FEMS Microbes, Volume 2, 2021, xtab015.
  • McCluskey, J., Flores, M. E., Hinojosa, J., Jafarzadeh, A., Moghadam, S. V., Phan, D. C., Green, R. T., & Kapoor, V. (2021). Tracking Water with Synthetic DNA Tracers Using Droplet Digital PCR. ACS ES&T Water, 1(5), 1177-1183.
  • Hinojosa, J., Green, J., Estrada, F., Herrera, J., Mata, T., Phan, D., Tanvir Pasha, A. B. M., Matta, A., Johnson, D., & Kapoor, V. (2020). Determining the primary sources of fecal pollution using microbial source tracking assays combined with land-use information in the Edwards Aquifer. Water Research, 184, 116211.
  • Phan, D. C., Vazquez-Munoz, R., Matta, A., & Kapoor, V. (2020). Short-term effects of Mn2O3 nanoparticles on physiological activities and gene expression of nitrifying bacteria under low and high dissolved oxygen conditions. Chemosphere, 261, 127775.
  • Phan, D., Pasha, A. B. M., Carwile, N., & Kapoor, V. (2020). Effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles on physiological activities and gene expression of wastewater nitrifying bacteria. Environmental Engineering Science, 37(5), 328-336.
  • Tanvir Pasha, A. B. M., Hinojosa, J., Phan, D., Lopez, A., & Kapoor, V. (2020). Detection of human fecal pollution in environmental waters using human mitochondrial DNA and correlation with general and human-associated fecal genetic markers. Journal of Water and Health, 18(1), 8-18.
  • Rangel, L., Kapoor, V., Hutchinson, J., & Dessouky, S. (2019). Carbon Sequestration of Soil and Plants along IH-35 in Bexar County, Texas. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 271, p. 04001). EDP Sciences.
  • Annavajhala, M., Kapoor, V., Santodomingo, J., & Chandran, K. (2018). Structural and functional interrogation of selected biological nitrogen removal systems in the United States, Denmark, and Singapore using shotgun metagenomics. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 2544.
  • Kapoor, V., Gupta, I., Pasha, A. T., & Phan, D. (2018). Real-time Quantitative PCR Measurements of Fecal Indicator Bacteria and Human-associated Source Tracking Markers in a Texas River following Hurricane Harvey. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 5(6), 322-328.
  • Kapoor, V., Phan, D., & Pasha, A. T. (2018). Effects of metal oxide nanoparticles on nitrification in wastewater treatment systems: A systematic review. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 53 (7), 659-668.
  • Annavajhala, M. K., Kapoor, V., Santo-Domingo, J., & Chandran, K. (2018). Comammox Functionality Identified in Diverse Engineered Biological Wastewater Treatment Systems. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 5(2), 110-116.
  • Kapoor, V., Elk, M., Toledo-Hernandez, C., & Santo Domingo, J. W. (2017). Analysis of human mitochondrial DNA sequences from fecally polluted environmental waters as a tool to study population diversity. AIMS Environmental Science. 4(3), 443-455.
  • Bhattacharjee, A. S., Wu, S., Lawson, C. E., Jetten, M. S., Kapoor, V., Domingo, J. W. S., McMahon, K. D., Noguera, D. R. and Goel, R. (2017). Whole community metagenomics in two different anammox configurations: process performance and community structure. Environmental Science & Technology. 51(8), 4317-4327.
  • Wurtzler, E. M., Ravi, R., Kapoor, V., & Wendell, D. (2017). Rational Design of Duplex Specific Nuclease for One-Step Isothermal Viral RNA Detection. Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology Vol, 5(05), 1-10.
  • Kapoor, V., Li, X., Elk, M. and Santo Domingo, J. W. (2016) Inhibitory Effect of Cyanide on Wastewater Nitrification Determined Using SOUR and RNA-Based Gene-Specific Assays. Letters in Applied Microbiology. 63(2), 155-161.
  • Camejo, P. Y., Owen, B., Martirano, J., Ma, J., Kapoor, V., Santo Domingo, J. W., McMahon, K. D. and Noguera, D. R. (2016) Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis clades enriched under cyclic anaerobic and microaerobic conditions simultaneously use different electron acceptors. Water Research. 102, 125-137.
  • Kapoor, V., Li, X., Impelliteri, C., Chandran, K. and Santo Domingo, J. W. (2016) Use of Functional Gene Expression and Respirometry to Study Wastewater Nitrification Activity After Exposure to Low Doses of Copper. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 23(7), 6443-6450.
  • Kapoor, V., Li, X., Elk, M., Impelliteri, C. and Santo Domingo, J. W. (2016) Effects of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) on Nitrification Inhibition Determined Using SOUR and Gene Expression of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria. 147, 361-367.
  • Li, X., Kapoor, V., Impelliteri, C., Chandran, K. and Santo Domingo, J. W. (2016) Measuring Nitrification Inhibition by Metals in Wastewater Treatment Systems: Current State of Science and Fundamental Research Needs. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology. 46(3), 249-289.
  • Kapoor, V., Li, X., Elk, M., Impelliteri, C., Chandran, K. and Santo Domingo, J. W. (2015) Impact of Heavy Metals on Transcriptional and Physiological Activity of Nitrifying Bacteria Environmental Science & Technology. 49(22), 13454–13462.
  • Kapoor, V., Pitkänen, T., Ryu, H., Elk, M., Wendell, D. and Santo Domingo, J. W. (2015). Distribution of Human-Specific Bacteroidales and Fecal Indicator Bacteria in an Urban Watershed Impacted by Sewage Pollution, Determined Using RNA-and DNA-Based Quantitative PCR Assays. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 81(1), 91-99.
  • Kapoor, V., DeBry, R. W., Boccelli, D. and Wendell, D. (2014) Sequencing Human Mitochondrial Hypervariable Region II as a Molecular Fingerprint for Environmental Waters. Environmental Science & Technology. 48(18), 10648–10655.
  • Zehraoui, A., Kapoor, V., Wendell, D. and Sorial, G. A. (2014) Impact of Alternate Use of Methanol on n-Hexane Biofiltration and Microbial Community Structure Diversity. Biochemical Engineering Journal. 85, 110-118.
  • Kapoor, V., Smith, C., Santo Domingo, J. W., Lu, T. and Wendell, D. (2013) Correlative Assessment of Fecal Indicators Using Human Mitochondrial DNA as a Direct Marker. Environmental Science & Technology. 47(18), 10485–10493.
  • Kapoor, V. and Wendell, D. (2013) Engineering Bacterial Efflux Pumps for Solar Powered Bioremediation of Surface Waters. Nano Letters. 13(5), 2189-2193.
  • Padaria, J. C. and Kapoor, V. (2011) Plasmid Borne Gene of Bacillus pumillus MTCC 7615 Responsible for Fungal Antagonism towards Rhizoctonia solani. Indian Journal of Biotechnology. 10(3), 316-320.

Members

Current Lab Members

Faculty

Dr. Vikram Kapoor

Associate Professor, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Construction Management, University of Texas at San Antonio

 

 

Graduate Students and Postdocs

Dr. Kiran Vadde (Postdoc)

      Dipti Anik Dhar (PhD Student)

Ahmed Hussian (PhD Student)

Carlos Romero Vazquez (PhD Student)

 

 

 

Arushi Kapoor (PhD Student)

 

 

 

Ian Kearney (MS Student)

 

Undergraduate Students

  • Miguel Rivera, B.S. Chemical Engineering
  • Jaquelin Rueda, B.S. Chemistry
  • Alexandra Bowdoin, B.S. Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
  • Camilo Sandoval, B.S. Biology

Research Group Alumni

  • Arash Jafarzadeh (PhD Civil Engineering), 2019-2024
  • Sina Vedadi Moghadam (PhD Civil Engineering), 2018-2023
  • Jazmin Carothers, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2023
  • Haya Al-Duroobi (PhD Environmental Science and Engineering), 2020-2022
  • Mauricio Flores (MS Civil Engineering), 2020-2022
  • Emily Martinez, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2020 – 2021
  • Duc Phan (Postdoc), 2019-2021
  • Jemima McCluskey (MS Civil Engineering), 2018-2020
  • Duc Phan (PhD Environmental Science and Engineering), 2016-2019
  • Jessica Hinojosa (MS Civil Engineering), 2017-2019
  • ABM Tanvir Pasha (MS Civil Engineering), 2016-2018
  • Fabiola Estrada, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2017 – 2020
  • Nikolas Carwile, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2017 – 2020
  • Jonathan Herrera, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2018 – 2020
  • Troy Mata, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2018 – 2020
  • Diana Cabral, B.S. Civil Engineering, 2016 – 2017
  • Adrianne Lopez, B.S. Geological Sciences, 2017

 

Contact

CONTACT US

Thanks for your interest in our research. Get in touch with us for any questions or comments regarding our work and publications. We’d love to hear from you.

Address:

University of Texas at San Antonio
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Construction Management 
One UTSA Circle, BSE 1.336 
San Antonio, TX 78249-3209

Email: vikram.kapoor@utsa.edu

Phone: (210) 458-7198

Fax: (210) 458-6475