Events Calendar

Join us in the historic city of Utrecht for this Congress. This is a forum for Europe’s leading researchers to present their in vitro cell culture advances and exchange ideas. It is a ‘Gordon Style’ event at which everybody who attends is encouraged to contribute either by presenting papers, preparing a poster or running a discussion session. Prizes will be presented to the best student posters.

The EUROTOX 2012 congress will take place at the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, which is centrally located in the city of Stockholm with accommodation, restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, theatres etc all within walking distance.

The scientific programme will be designed with input from toxicologists of all parts of Europe and in line with the cutting edge of toxicology and safety science. There will be poster sessions and a continuing education programme.

The meeting will offer plenty of opportunities for discussions and interactions between the participants and celebrate 50 years of toxicology organisations in Europe.

The attractive social programme includes a welcome reception, a congress dinner and a reception.

For those who want to take the opportunity to enjoy Stockholm, Sweden and the rest of the North before or after the congress, there will be ample opportunities to do so.

The workshop has become an important international gathering in the fields of Environmental and Health Sciences, bringing together people developing and using (Q)SAR-s to explain the behavior of chemicals in nature and living organisms. The Workshop has attained great recognition as a forum that helps to build common understanding and solutions in explaining the influence of chemical structure on various physical, chemical, biological, and health endpoints, as well as in understanding systems chemistry and, at the end of the line, contributes to the improvement of quality of life.

EUROECOTOX is an European Network that aims to contribute to the advancement of alternative methods of ecotoxicity testing in Europe and promotion of the validation and regulatory acceptance of new alternative methods in ecotoxicology. One activity of the network is the organization a forum with keynote speakers and talks/posters selected from abstract submissions. The conference will be a platform for young scientists and experts from academia, industry and regulation in the research field of 3Rs within environmental risk assessment. The focus will be on the current state and future directions of the development, implementation and application of the 3Rs, from bench to acceptance.

The National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) announces an “International Workshop on Alternative Methods for Leptospira Vaccine Potency Testing: State of the Science and Planning the Way Forward” on September 19-21, 2012. The workshop will be hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Veterinary Biologics at the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa. NICEATM is organizing the workshop in collaboration with the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) and partner organizations in the International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods.

This workshop will bring together international scientific experts from government, industry, and academia to review available methods and approaches that can reduce, refine (enhance animal well-being and decrease or eliminate pain and distress), and/or replace animal use for veterinary Leptospira vaccine potency testing, and to develop an implementation strategy to achieve global acceptance and use of available alternatives. A poster session will feature presentations on current research, development, and validation of alternative methods for Leptospira vaccine potency testing.

Leptospirosis is an emerging and widespread bacterial zoonotic disease caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. Worldwide more than 500,000 human cases of leptospirosis are reported each year with a fatality rate of up to 25% in some regions. Designated as a Neglected Tropical Disease by the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, leptospirosis is a global research and public health priority. Leptospirosis also affects many animal species including livestock, pets, and wildlife. In the United States, vaccines are used to protect cattle, swine, and dogs, and human vaccines are available in some other countries. Regulatory authorities require potency testing prior to release of each production lot of Leptospira vaccine to ensure that it will be effective. However, such testing currently involves large numbers of laboratory animals. Many animals experience significant unrelieved pain and distress, accounting for over one-third of the animals reported to the USDA in this pain category. Accordingly, NICEATM, ICCVAM, and its international partners recently identified Leptospira vaccines as one of its top three priorities for development, validation, and implementation of improved alternatives.

The upcoming workshop will review recent advances in science and technology and new methods and approaches that are more humane, that use fewer or no animals, and that may provide improved accuracy, efficiency, and worker safety. The workshop will also address global acceptance and implementation of scientifically valid alternative methods. Registration information and a workshop program will soon be available on the NICEATM-ICCVAM website. NICEATM and ICCVAM also invite the submission of abstracts for scientific posters to be displayed during this workshop; abstracts should be submitted by August 13, 2012. Online registration, instructions for poster authors, and other information will be available at the link above. If you have questions about the workshop or would like more information, please contact NICEATM at niceatm@niehs.nih.gov.