Hundreds of Scientists Trained on Methods To Reduce and Replace Animal Tests

In October, the American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology—a scientific society co-founded by the Physicians Committee—held its ninth annual meeting, which included lectures and discussions about developing and using NAMs. The meeting, which was attended by more than 200 regulators, academics, students, and industry scientists from around the world, included speakers from Dow Chemical, the EPA, Health Canada, and Roche, and 22 oral and 70 poster presenters, all presenting their work on nonanimal methods for assessing chemicals, drugs, and other products. Kristie Sullivan, MPH, vice president of research policy for the Physicians Committee, serves as the secretary for ASCCT.

Physicians Committee Toxicologist Esther Haugabrooks, PhD, also organized and hosted a successful full-day training with Environmental Protection Agency method developers in October, where more than 200 scientists learned how to assess chemical safety with the EPA’s computational tools.

In November, Dr. Haugabrooks also hosted two trainings at the Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment's annual symposium. More than 200 participants learned about nonanimal toxicology assessment from experts from L'Oréal, Unilever, Cosmetics Europe, Medical University of Innsbruck, the cosmetics regulatory body in Europe, and several test method developers. The association’s members are professionals in the chemical assessment community looking for alternatives to toxic chemicals in products and the environment. They advise companies on how to assess chemicals outside of traditional regulatory requirements and wanted to learn more about NAMs. 

The Physicians Committee also provides NAMs training to industry, government, and academic scientists through the New Approach Methodology (NAM) Use for Regulatory Application (NURA) continuing education program.