In vitro toxicity methods are gaining importance, in particular as a response to a number of European legislative changes that call for more mechanistically-based decision-making and limit or even prohibit the use of animal experimentation for risk assessment purposes. Hence, there is an urgent demand for toxicologists and risk assessors to implement in vitro testing results into regulatory safety evaluation of chemicals. This course aims at meeting this ubiquitous need by training individuals who wish to start or pursue a career in this direction or to gain an update on the state-of-the-art of applied in vitro toxicology.

This year’s topic will be VACCINATION. The aim of the meeting is to gather researchers and scientists interested or working in the fields of experimental pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, clinical, experimental or regulatory toxicology, or in pharmaceutical medicine. Each discipline will present the opportunities and perspectives in their fields. Abstract submission deadline is 11th March 2019.

This workshop aims to first discuss a draft manuscript describing an overview of toxicological endpoints and ADIs relevant to food additives and existing AOPs which cover them. Secondly, break-out groups will be formed to discuss the role of AOPs in the risk and safety evaluation of food additives, aiming to provide guidance on the future development and use of AOPs in this area.

The training is dedicated to scientists from industry, academia, consultancy and CROs interested in the application of advanced cell culture systems and to get familiar with the latest approaches related to experimental data management and integrated in vitro - in silico approaches. The training includes both theory and practices of advanced cell culture techniques and data management practices through a combination of lectures, demonstrations and practical hands-on experience.

Current testing requirements for neurotoxicity evaluation are still mainly based on observations of neurobehavioral and neuropathological effects. NAM methodologies have greatly advanced our understanding of human neurobiology and also of mechanisms of neurotoxicity. However, this has not led to a wide-spread reliance on such methods for hazard assessment. Nevertheless, NAM have been used to complement traditional approaches, and an increasing number of in vitro systems have been incorporated in “integrated approaches to testing and assessment” (IATA). Besides a general safety evaluation of chemicals for classification and labelling, there are other toxicological tasks that provide better entry points for NAM in neurotoxicity assessment. For instance, IATA, as defined by OECD, use an iterative approach to answer a defined hazard characterization question within a specific regulatory context, and NAM may take a role at some of the stages. Other special applications are the use of neurotoxicity NAM in read-across or in the specific question of excluding particular forms of neurotoxicity, such as peripheral neuropathy or induction of seizures. To register, please contact caat-eu-2@uni-konstanz.de.

At this two days hands-on training, BASF experts will put emphasis on skin sensitization models such as h-clat (OECD TG 442E), DPRA (OECD TG 442C) and LuSens. In comparisons to 2017, this training will focus more intensely on the assessment of the data and testing strategies within the aforementioned models. Eurosafe and immunosearch will also be part of the trainers in 2018.

This two days hands-on training hosted by Epithelix will cover practical use of respiratory in vitro 3D tissues and exposure devices to evaluate acute and repeated dose inhalation toxicity. To mimic systemic context, interconnection strategies of lung tissues will be presented.