ALTERNATIVE WP2 PARTNERS COORDINATED AND PARTICIPATED IN JOINT 3R SYMPOSIUM
The RE-Place project, in collaboration with the IC-3Rs and TWINALT project, jointly organized a three-day 3R symposium in Brussels, Belgium, from September 19 to September 21, 2023. The RE-Place project, coordinated by ALTERNATIVE WP2 lead Birgit Mertens (Sciensano) and Vera Rogiers (VUB), played a key role in organizing this event.
The symposium started with a closed pre-meeting of the TWINALT consortium on the morning of September 19, 2023. TWINALT, a Horizon 2020 funded project, aims to develop a better understanding of alternative methods for toxicity testing, exchange know-how and disseminate the knowledge for the scientific and social benefits. The afternoon session of the first day focused on emerging concepts such as Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA), featuring a presentation by Birgit Mertens on AOP-based IATA for genotoxicity.
The following day, on September 20th, the morning session was organized by the RE-Place team. RE-Place manages a central database, gathering various replacement methods with expertise available in Belgium, and actively disseminates information on this type of methods. Six experts from the RE-Place database presented their work, covering topics such as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), modeling tools, and 3D tissue models.
Concluding the symposium on September 21st was the Annual IC-3Rs Symposium. Traditionally, research in complex fields like neurology, reproductive biology, neurotoxicology, and reproductive toxicology heavily relied on experimental animals. However, the symposium highlighted the shift towards new 3R-alternative methods for studying the brain and reproductive organs, recognizing the limitations of rodent studies in translating results to humans.
During the IC-3Rs Symposium, Sivakumar Murugadoss, working in WP2 ‘Regulatory Uptake’ of the Alternative project, presented a poster titled “Innovative Non-Animal Based Testing Platform to Detect Chemical-Induced Cardiotoxicity – A Roadmap for Regulatory Uptake”. The poster focused on the development of AOP network and IATA for cardiotoxicity.
Further information:
https://joint3rsymposium.org/
Keywords:
3R, New approach methodologies (NAMs), adverse outcome pathways, integrated approaches to testing and assessment, alternative methods
