Contributor: Amy J. Clippinger, PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. There is a growing concern about the lack of quality and reproducibility of animal-derived antibodies, which often show poor specificity or fail to recognize their targets. Time, money, and tens of thousands of animals could be saved, while improving the reproducibility of research, by replacing animal-derived […]
Contributor: Sherry Ward, AltTox The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will hold a public meeting on October 30, 2015, to discuss the memorandum entitled, “Modernizing the Regulatory System for Biotechnology Products,” issued by the Executive Office of the President on July 2, 2015. The […]
Three recent papers address some of the challenges regulatory agencies and manufacturers face when it comes to nanomaterials and nanomaterial-containing products: one outlines the specific kinds of information most needed for risk assessment and management, and two describe approaches that could be standardized to make those assessments. In Biological responses to engineered nanomaterials: Needs for […]
Contributor: Marilyn Matevia, HSUS The US EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) is now accepting nominations for experts and topics for its December 16-17 workshop, Advancing Systematic Review for Chemical Risk Assessment. Nominations are due November 5. From the EPA’s meeting announcement: “EPA is developing and implementing a systematic review process within the IRIS […]
Contributor: Bonnie Earnhardt, NIH/NIEHS NIEHS is seeking a dynamic, highly motivated Senior Scientist to serve as NICEATM Director. NICEATM is the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods, an office within the Division of the National Toxicology Program. NICEATM is the primary federal resource for the development, validation, and evaluation of new […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM Presentations from the Sept. 24–25 workshop on Alternative Approaches for Identifying Acute Systemic Toxicity: Moving from Research to Regulatory Testing are now available on the NICEATM website. At this workshop, representatives from regulatory agencies, academia, and industries developed strategies for advancing alternative methods for product safety testing that meet the needs […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) recently issued CVB Notice 15-13, Option to Remove Back-titration Hamsters from In Vivo Potency Tests for Leptospira Serogroups Canicola and Icterohaemorrhagiae. The notice describes an exemption from the titration requirement in vaccination-challenge potency assays for Leptospira Serogroups Canicola and Icterohaemorrhagiae. […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM A new committee of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will examine whether the current toxicity testing practices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adequately consider adverse human health effects of low doses of endocrine-active chemicals. Committee activities will include convening a scientific workshop to support systematic reviews of human and […]
Contributor: Kristie Sullivan, PCRM The European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) has published an extremely comprehensive report on all its activities related to human and ecological health, the development and validation of alternative methods, and information dissemination, and regulatory implementation. The report contains summaries of, e.g., EURL ECVAM’s activities in […]
Posted: October 14, 2015 The purpose of the International Foundation for Ethical Research (IFER) Graduate Fellowship Program is “to provide financial incentives to graduate students in science that encourage them at the earliest stages of their career to integrate innovation and discovery with ethics and respect for animals.” IFER Graduate Fellowships are awarded annually (see […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM An article published October 2 as an advance publication in Environmental Health Perspectives describes curation and evaluation of a database of rodent uterotrophic bioactivity. The uterotrophic assay is a widely accepted in vivo test for identifying chemicals with potential estrogen receptor agonist activity. The new database, which includes data from studies […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM A series of four webinars on In Vitro to In Vivo Extrapolation for High Throughput Prioritization and Decision Making are being presented by the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The webinar series began October 7 and […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM A November 4 webinar will explain how to use the ASSIST (Application Submission System and Interface for Submission Tracking) system for submitting grant applications. ASSIST is an alternative to Grants.gov downloadable forms for applying for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants. Advantages to using ASSIST […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program (NTP) scientists along with Tox21 partners have developed a list of environmentally responsive genes to be used in toxicogenomics approaches to screening large numbers of chemicals. Genes on the list were identified through both bioinformatics approaches and experimental data establishing certain […]
Contributor: Catherine Sprankle, NICEATM The NIH invites interested applicants to pre-apply for PAR-15-172 “Collaborative Innovation Award, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program (U01)”. While not required, pre-application for this award is recommended. Applicants submitting pre-applications that are meritorious and programmatically relevant will be notified of the opportunity to submit a full application. NCATS is […]
Contributor: Sherry Ward, AltTox Registration to this conference is now closed, but you can follow the entire conference online: http://www.efsaexpo2015.eu/join-the-conference-online/ Conference Website: http://www.efsaexpo2015.eu/ Here are descriptions of 3 of the conference sessions: Novel chemical hazard characterization approaches – October 16 from 09:00 to 13:00 Novel tools and testing strategies are revolutionising the way that scientists […]
Contributor: Rebecca Ram, Lush Prize We are pleased to announce that the third annual Lush Prize conference is due to be held on Friday 20th November 2015 at RIBA in London (W1B 1AD) between 9.45 am and 4.30pm. Please arrive for welcome/coffee at 9.45, ready for a 10am start. The theme of this year’s conference […]
Contributor: Marilyn Matevia, HSUS An announcement from the EPA: The US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research Development’s National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT) is seeking qualified candidates for four positions 1) Computational Toxicologist, 2) Molecular Toxicologist, 3) Cell Biologist and 4) Text Mining Specialist. Below is more information about the National Center for Computational […]
Contributor: Kristie Sullivan, PCRM From the UK National Centre for the 3Rs Website: “The international NC3Rs Prize is awarded to highlight an outstanding original contribution to scientific and technological advances in the 3Rs in medical, biological or veterinary sciences published within the last three years. The prize is part of our commitment to recognise and […]
Contributor: Sherry Ward, AltTox On behalf of The Minister of Environment and Food, The Danish 3R-Center calls for applications to promote the development and implementation of the 3Rs. Call for project applications: http://en.3rcenter.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Forskning/Call_for_project_applications_to_promote_the_development_and_implementation_of_the_3Rs_final.pdf Danish 3R-Center Research Funding: http://en.3rcenter.dk/research-funding/ Application Deadline: Wednesday October 21, 2015. Grants of up to 500.000 DKK can be applied for. Typically, […]