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SharePETA Science Consortium International kicked the year off with the publication of our collaborative study on frozen human precision-cut lung slices, which has expanded the availability of these tissues, continued advancing modern approaches to respiratory toxicity and eye irritation testing, and more. Through travel grants and equipment donations, we supported researchers seeking training in or access to the latest non-animal testing approaches.
Take a look at these and other highlights of the year.
Publications
We published four papers:
- Hilton GM, Bhuller Y, Doe JE, Wolf DC, Currie RA. A new paradigm for regulatory sciences. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. Published online 2 November 2023. doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2023.105524
- van der Zalm A, Daniel AB, Raabe HA, Choksi N, Silva TJ, Breeden-Alemi J, O’Dell L, Kleinstreuer NC, Lowit AB, Allen DG, Clippinger AJ. Defined approaches to classify agrochemical formulations into EPA hazard categories developed using EpiOcularTM reconstructed human corneal epithelium and bovine corneal opacity and permeability assays. Cutan Ocul Toxicol. Published online 31 October 2023. doi.org/10.1080/15569527.2023.2275029/
- Sharma M, Stucki AO, Verstraelen S, Stedeford TJ, Jacobs A, Maes F, Poelmans D, Van Laer J, Remy S, Frijns E, Allen DG, Clippinger AJ. Human cell-based in vitro systems to assess respiratory toxicity: a case study using silanes. Toxicol Sci. 2023;195(2):213-230.
- Patel VS, Amin K, Wahab A, Marimoutou M, Ukishima L, Alvarez J, Battle K, Stucki AO, Clippinger AJ, Behrsing HP. Cryopreserved human precision-cut lung slices provide an immune competent pulmonary test system for “on-demand” use and long-term cultures. Toxicol Sci. 2023;191(2):253-265.
We are currently collaborating on additional manuscripts that we expect to publish in 2024. For example, in November, we submitted a collaborative paper outlining differences between the respiratory tracts of humans and those of rats and their impact on toxicological assessments (Stucki et al.).
Webinars
We co-organised five webinars:
- EPIC Webinar Series on the Use of NAMs in Risk Assessment, co-hosted with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation
- OECD Updates and the Developmental Neurotoxicity (DNT) In Vitro Test Battery, with Charles Kovatch and Tim Shafer (EPA)
- Development and Application of NAMs Workflows and Tools, with Alistair Middleton (Unilever) and Tara Barton-Maclaren (Health Canada)
- Webinar Series on In Vitro Phototoxicity Testing, co-hosted with IIVS
- Part I. Methodological Overview, with Allison Hilberer (IIVS) and Satomi Onoue (University of Shizuoka)
- Part II. Application Case Studies, with Gretchen Ritacco (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) and Edward Chikwana (Corteva)
- Webinar Series on the Use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in Risk Assessment, co-hosted with the EPA and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
- Frameworks for Establishing Scientific Confidence in New Approach Methodologies, Part II, with Alistair Middleton (Unilever) and Amanda Ulrey (IIVS)
Science Consortium member PETA India also co-hosted a five-part webinar series on new approach methodologies that can be used to fulfil pesticide toxicity testing requirements in India.
Presentations and Chaired Sessions
We chaired 12 sessions at events that included the Society of Toxicology 62nd Annual Meeting and the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences and delivered about 50 oral and poster presentations on a variety of topics, such as how to evaluate confidence in new methods in order to accelerate the uptake of reliable non-animal test methods, how to use animal-free tools to assess the risks of chemicals on the environment, and using novel approaches to test chemicals for their potential to cause cancer. View a list of these and other select presentations here.
Awards
We donated a flow cytometer worth US$80,000, which can be used to assess chemicals for genotoxicity and skin sensitisation, to IIVS. We also donated a US$40,000 Tecan D300e Digital Dispenser, which can be used to predict the likelihood of inhaled chemicals to cause an allergic reaction in the lung and differentiate between respiratory irritants and respiratory sensitisers, to Invitrolize. We partnered with Epithelix to award a scientist at Trinity College Dublin three-dimensional reconstructed human respiratory tissues worth US$15,000 that can be used for testing cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, and other products.
We awarded 21 scientists travel grants to attend scientific conferences and workshops around the globe, including the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre Summer School on Non-Animal Approaches in Science, and training courses focused on specific non-animal methods for skin sensitisation, respiratory toxicity, and genotoxicity. We continue to sponsor scientists to attend the In Vitro Toxicology Training Course at IIVS and will announce the 2024 course attendees soon.
Our ongoing Recombinant Antibody Challenge provided researchers with free catalogue recombinant antibodies to test in their in vitro applications of interest instead of using animal-derived antibodies.
Leadership Positions
This year, we were elected to the following positions within scientific organisations:
- Board Member of the American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology (ASCCT)
- Board Member of the European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV)
- Board Member of the International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety (ICCS)
- Councilor for the North Carolina Society of Toxicology
- Member of the EPA Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee
- Member of the IIVS Scientific Advisory Panel
- Member of the Society of Toxicology’s Faculty United for Toxicology Undergraduate Recruitment and Education (FUTURE) Committee
- Officer of EUROTOX’s In Vitro and In Silico Toxicology (In2TOX) specialty section
See our highlights from past years: