| 2006-October-31, edition #09-2006 |
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Dear ecopa messenger subscriber,
This is the third "ecopa messenger" edition in 2006.
It contains the report on the eSi (ecopa Science Initiative) Workshop in Alicante of September 2006 incl. photographs of the event.
It also announces the forthcoming event, the 7th ecopa Annual Workshop and Annual Assembly will be the forum for alternative method development once again. The workshop will focus on the implications of REACH one more time. It will address the further need for basic approaches and is entitled: “REACH for help, science back up?” And the meeting will also report on the consensus REACH impact documentation of ecopa/CONAM Working Group on Chemical Policy.
The CONAM/ecopa-Board Meeting on October 20, 2006 in Brussels/B has addressed the CONAM/ecopa-Status and planning for the events of 2007 and beyond -see the minutes:
And as usual, there are updates in this newsletter on the 6th EU Framework Programme projects that ecopa is participating in, such as ReProTect, PREDICTOMICS and Sens-it-iv, Liintop and Bio-Sim. The new project CARCINOGENOMICS will have its kick-off in Maastricht on Nov. 5 to 7, 2006. Actually, on Oct.12, 2006 has taken place a first Mirror Group Meeting organized by EPAA (the EU Commission and Industry partnership). Also, the summarizing reports and the presentations given by the project
ccordinators of the DG Research workshop of June 13, 2006, covering all alternative methods projects in the 6th FP can be seen.
Any proposal or recommendation regarding style, content or distribution of the newsletter is highly welcome and appreciated (bgarthoff@t-online.de).
Bernward Garthoff
Treasurer ecopa
on behalf of the ecopa Management Board
P.S.: If you know other people or institutions interested, have them visit our website and subscribe to this newsletter. |
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Issue # 09 (October 2006) |
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I.1.1. Recent News on REACH: REACH nears end
After the discussions of the European Parliament (EP) and the EU Councils, THE ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY COMMITTEE OF THE EP convened on October 4 to prepare for the 2nd reading of the EP in November, so that REACH can become effective by beginning of 2007. Currently, the second reading is planned for November, but could be pushed easily into December. At that point in time, the final impact on animal testing and alternative method development can be estimated. Therefore,
ecopa and its WG will give their comments and a first view at its Annual Meeting in November. If the REACH legislation is not passed by December 31, 2006, then legislation texts will have to be translated into Bulgarian and Romanian, before it takes effect. This could delay the process by six months, easily.
The Committee discussed 359 amendments and voted by a sizeable majority -42 in favour, 12 against and six abstentions-backing rapporteur Guido Sacconi’s recommendation on REACH for the second reading (source: ICIS,16 Oct.2006,p.4). The voting outcome means that there will be tough negotiations between Parliament and the Council of Ministers to avoid the proposals moving into the conciliation procedure, delaying the legislations adoption.
Meanwhile, it is clear that cost of REACH will shoot up; in some cases, the costs, relating to the fees, are four to five times higher than those first mooted back in October 2003.
The online REACH information has been updated by the European Commission. The “Questions and Answers on REACH” document has been brought in line with the Councils Common Positions, as has been the “REACH in brief” document. The documents can be found at:
» www.tinyurl.com/z6geh
» www.tinyurl.com/ez4zh
ecopa had developed the "impact" software "REACH Animal Use Calculator" for free. The software allows anybody to calculate the impact REACH has on chemical testing requirements and on resulting animal numbers. All scenarios current and existing in future, can be modeled with it - it is also downloadable from our website.
I.1.2. More EU REACH information
European Partnership on Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA)
The EU Commission under lead of Commissioners Verheugen and Potocnik, had initiated a partnership program with the industry and industry associations resp. individual companies. A first kick off meeting was held on November 7th, 2005 – a follow up on this approach "Europe goes alternative" will be held each year. This year, it will be done in a workshop on Dec. 18, 2006. The EPAA has agreed for 21 activities to be carried out over the next 5 years.
The partnership thereby has finalized the development of the program, all the details known until now are on the website.
» http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/epaa/index_en.htm
» http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/814&type=HTML&aged=0
» http://europa.eu.int/rapid/searchResultAction.do?search=OK&query=Indus&username=PROF
A mirror group of stakeholders including animal welfare bodies and patient groups had input into the process in the first Mirror Group Meeting on Oct. 12, 2006. Participants from ecopa: Vera Rogiers, Horst Spielmann and Ove Svendsen.
I.1.3. GHS (Globally Harmonized System)
The EU is not only in the process of developing and putting in place the new chemicals policy REACH, but it is planning to implement the globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labelling of chemicals at the same time. The best current estimate is that REACH will come into force early in 2007. Clearly, the GHS is behind REACH in the regulatory process though the first version is around since 2003, after 10 years of preparation. The Commission has drafted much of the
proposal to implement GHS and will meet key stakeholders in 2006 for an abbreviated public consultation.
The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) provides a harmonised basis for globally uniform environmental, health and safety information on hazardous chemical substances and mixtures. It was developed at UN level. At the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002, the European Commission, the EU Member States and stakeholders from industry and non-governmental organisations have endorsed the UN recommendation to implement the
GHS in domestic law.
The Commission Services Directorate-General (DG) Enterprise & Industry and DG Environment with technical support from DG JRC have drafted a proposal for a Regulation which would introduce the GHS criteria into Community law. In accordance with the Commission’s commitment to better regulation, the Commission Services have undertaken a public consultation on this draft proposal.
The Stakeholder Consultation on the Implementation of the GHS in Community Legislation was open from 21 August till 21 October 2006:
» http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach/ghs_consultation_en.htm
I.1.4. EU-Community Action Plan
Also, the EU Commission has released a Working Document and a Communication to the Parliament and Council as the basis of a "Community Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals, 2006-2010".
I.1.5. EU-Consultation Process
Increasing the welfare of animals used in experiments: Public consultation on the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.
This internet consultation has been closed on 18 August 2006. The European Commission would like to thank all respondents for their valuable contributions and will take your views into consideration in its preparation of a proposal to revise the existing legislation that protects animals which are used for experimental and other scientific purposes. You can view the results of the consultation on this web-site after mid-October 2006 (two months after the closing
date of the consultation).
» http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/ia_info_en.htm |
I.2.1. Nanotech
In following-up on our well-received workshop on "Nanotech, Biotech and other new technologies" at the last Annual ecopa-Meeting in December 2005, we would like to draw your attention to recent statements, workshops and data banks that might be of interest for people in the field. The UK's Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering have called "for industry to put the methods they use to test the safety of products containing free nanoparticles ... into the public
domain because this is one particular area where there is some uncertainty about safety." OECD released findings from a workshop on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. (ICIS, May 15, 2006, p. 30).
Also, in the DG Research-meeting “EU-funded Research on Alternatives to Animal Experimentation: stocktaking from FP6 and views for the future”, June 13-14, 2006, a group was reporting (Group B) on nanotechnology and alternatives.
In the mean time, the environmental council has called for putting nanotech products in future under REACH regulations.
I.2.2. Technical Info to use the Forum of ecopa
The Forum Section is now available via the ecopa page or the direct link:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/ |
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II.1. EU 6th Framework Programme Projects / ecopa Working Groups |
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Details, Minutes, Contract numbers and alike will be dispatched on the FORUM pages in future, once activated by the individual teams.
NOTICE:
To avoid misunderstandings and because of inquiries at the ecopa Annual Meeting December 2005 -please, be informed and take note that the abstracts of the EU 6th FP Projects are original abstracts of the project proposals submitted to the EU Commission in most cases, and are not supposed to be adapted after the final contract agreements. Therefore, they will remain and read in their initial form. |
II.1.1.1. Abstract of the project
The abstract of the project is to be found on the ecopa forum:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13
II.1.1.2. Recent News
New EU project officer in DG Research:
Christian Wimmer will follow up Beatrice Lucaroni and Maria Dusinska as a project officer.
Representatives of ecopa in EU projects 6th Framework Programme:
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SSA project ForInViTox (Forum for researchers and regulators to meet to meet manufacturers of toxicology test methods) - ecopa is represented by Dr. Odile De Silva. She accepted to become a member of the reference group of the project and part of the inner core of the Forum that will be established within the project. |
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BioSim – Flavia Zucco accepted the invitation to represent ecopa in this EU Project |
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CARCINOGENOMICS – A further person will be named the ecopa representative in this upcoming IP FP6 project |
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ACute Tox – Peter Maier is the representative in the Advisory Board. |
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Sens-it-iv – Vera Rogiers is the representative in the Advisory Board, and ecopa is seconding in the dissemination of results |
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PREDICTOMICS – Bernward Garthoff is the representative in the Advisory Board |
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Liintop – Horst Spielmann is the representative in the Advisory Board |
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ReProTect –Karin Gabrielson, Vera Rogiers and Bernward Garthoff (Chair) are representatives on the Supervising Board, and ecopa is seconding in the dissemination of results |
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CARCINOGENOMICS –ecopa has taken over the Work Package of dissemination of results of the consortium. |
The CONAM Review Board Meeting took place on October 20th, 2006 in Brussels at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels.
The next CONAM and Board review meeting will be held on the 5th of March 2007 in Paris.
II.1.1.3. Platforms
II.1.1.3.1. Austrian Platform
» z e t – Austrian Centre for Alternative and Complementary Methods to Animal Testing
II.1.1.3.2. Belgian Platform
» Foundation Prince Laurent
II.1.1.3.3. Czech Platform
» CZECOPA
II.1.1.3.4. Danish Platform
» DACOPA
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According to message of the Danish Government (29.06.2006), DACOPA has been officially established and the members are appointed. |
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Ove Svendsen has been appointed as the chairman of DACOPA by the Minister of Justice for the next 4 years. |
II.1.1.3.5. Dutch Platform
» NCA - The Netherlands Centre Alternatives to Animal User
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A report entitled "Regulatory Animal Testing" by Schiffelers et al. Utrecht University, has recently appeared. The study describes the factors and actors that influence the use of animal testing to comply with regulatory requirements. The study was conducted in the framework of the ZonMw "Limits to Animal
Testing" programme. (available as a PDF doc at www.bio.uu.nl under "publications") |
II.1.1.3.6. Finnish Platform
» Fincopa
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Fincopa, the Finnish national platform of ecopa was officially established in Tampere 21.09.2003, during the Scandinavian Workshop on In Vitro Toxicology, in a meeting of 10 Finnish participants representing academia, industry, animal welfare and government. In the meeting the goals of this Finnish national platform
were defined and a draft of the rules of Fincopa was presented. Fincopa was registered as an official society in the Register of Foundations by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland 09.11.2004. |
II.1.1.3.7. German Platform
» Stiftung set
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The Annual Report for 2005 has been published.
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II.1.1.3.8. Hungarian Platform
II.1.1.3.9. Italian Platform
» IPAM - Italian Platform on Alternative Methods
II.1.1.3.10. Irish Platform
II.1.1.3.11. Norwegian Platform
» Norwegian School of Veterinary Science
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The developing Norwegian Platform has performed a study on National Consensus Platforms in general.
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II.1.1.3.12. Polish Platform
» polcopa
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The Polcopa Founding Committee was finally established. |
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NCAM created a draft Polcopa web site (» www.imp.lodz.pl/polcopa) in polish version. This site will be continuously
updated as well as transformed into English version. |
II.1.1.3.13. Spanish Platform
» REMA – Red Española para el Desarrollo de Métodos Alternativos a la Experimentación Animal
II.1.1.3.14. Swedish Platform
» Stiftelsen Forskning utan djurförsök
II.1.1.3.15. Swiss Platform
» 3R Research Foundation Switzerland
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Update on Activities and the Annual Report:
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II.1.1.3.16. UK Platform
» The Boyd Group
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The Boyd Group was founded in 1992 as a forum for dialogue on contentious issues related to the use of animals in science. Its aims are to encourage productive debate about animal experimentation and alternatives, in order to clarify key issues of concern, work towards consensus where possible, make practical recommendations
towards achieving common goals, and inform a wider public. The Group currently has more than 40 participants, representing a wide range of stakeholders, including veterinarians, scientists using animals (from industry and academia), members of animal welfare organisations, anti-vivisectionists, members of government and charitable bodies funding or directly engaged in research, philosophers and others. Further information and reports are available at the Group's web-site:
» http://www.boyd-group.demon.co.uk |
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The FORUM page for CONAM is now activated, see above for technical details.
Also, the FORUM will contain the more general information available on the CONAM project, which will not necessarily be referred to by this newsletter so, check it out (» ecopa forum).
As part of the CONAM project and in response to the request of the EU, we will give any news, minutes of project (as far as they are non-confidential and non-proprietary) or post relevant info in the respective Forum Section. We will refer to it by use of the Newsletter. Also, as part of ecopa extended mission, we will refer to up coming events such as local workshop, conferences, meetings of the NCPs or ecopa working group etc. on our Website (» events
section), and if appropriate, in this newsletter.
Please supply us with the relevant info whenever deemed useful in your own interest.
II.1.1.4. Interested to form a new national platform in your country?
Please contact us (» contact section).
For an upfront info how to create a platform in your country, and which criteria to apply? See also the presentation of Jose Castell at the Stakeholder Workshop in Prague ECVAM/ecopa Stakeholder Workshop:
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All the abstracts of the following projects are to be found on the forum of the ecopa website, see the comment under II.1. |
This 6th FP-project, that ecopa had co-initiated and in which ecopa is represented with 3 members in the Supervising Board including the Chairperson, was started in 2003 with 21 partners.
The overall funding is scheduled to be 9.1 mio EUR, resp. 13.5 mio EUR. Contract with the EU was signed on July 1, 2004; the administration is performed by Prof. Michael Schwarz, University of Tübingen.
II.1.2.1. Abstract of the Project
The abstract of the project is to be found on the ecopa forum:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16
II.1.2.2. Recent News
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PDF: Minutes of the 5th ReProTect Supervising Board Meeting, Jul. 5 2006, Uppsala, Sweden
At present not available for the public! |
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The ecopa-induced 6th Framework Programme project has been started in 2003, with 14 partners, all in all. The overall funding is scheduled to be 2.3 mio EUR. Contract with the EU was signed on September 1, 2004; the administration is done by REMA.
II.1.3.1. Abstract of the Project
The abstract of the project is to be found on the ecopa forum:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15
II.1.3.2. Recent News
Find the non-confidential information on the First Annual Report of the PREDICTOMICS project here:
» Publishable Executive Summary
The consortium has launched a new web with several improvements to facilitate the dissemination of the research done. In the public accessible part, clear and easy to understand information is provided to a general reader, as well links to contact the individual groups through the webmaster.
The 4th meeting took place on 20 and 21 of September 2006, and was hosted by Dr. Patrick Maurel in Montpellier (F). The meeting allowed a discussion and the approval of the 2nd Year Report to be submitted to the Commission.
Websites: www.predictomics.com or www.predictomics.org
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Sens-it-iv is an Integrated Project financially supported by a grant from the European Commission (LSHB-CT-2005-018681).28 groups overall, of which 9 represent industry. 15 groups represent universities or research institutes, while 4 groups represent organizations.
II.1.5.1. Abstract of the Project
The abstract of the project is to be found on the ecopa forum:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17
II.1.5.2. Recent News
CONAM / ecopa has taken over the responsibility "spreading the news/results" of this EU project, and released a brochure covering the activities on behalf of Sens-it-iv, and supported the website creation. The folder and poster can be downloaded on the website www.sens-it-iv.eu , section press material.
The sens-it-iv Presentation from the Workshop "EU funded research on alternatives to animal experimentation: stocktaking from FP6 and views for the future can be downloaded from the www.ecopa.eu/forums
Website: www.sens-it-iv.com
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II.1.6.1. Abstract of the Project
The abstract of the project is to be found on the ecopa forum:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=79
II.1.6.2. Recent News
The second scientific conference for the BioSim Network took take place in the island of Mallorca, Spain, from October 18th to October 21st 2006 at the Cala Viñas hotel.
The objectives of the conference were:
- to present significant new scientific results obtained by the BioSim participants
- to provide a global overview of the advances in the network during its second year, and
- to foster collaboration among network participants.
For more information the home page of the project is the following:
» www.biosim-network.net |
II.1.7.1. Recent News
ecopa - Representative in Liintop is Horst Spielmann.
The Kick-off meeting of Liintop is planned January 12-13 November, 2007 in Rome, Italy. |
II.1.8.1. Recent News
The Kick-off meeting of CARCINOGENOMICS will take place November 5-7, 2006 in Maastricht, the Netherlands. |
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Additional Projects
Information on these projects can be found at the www.ecopa.eu/forum section. |
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II.2.7. Rainbow
» http://www.rainbow-project.eu/
The EC project RAINBOW will organise an international workshop, in Milan, Italy,11-13 December, 2006-05-27 at Mario Negri Institute.
The discussion will be on „How to integrate and make optimal use of animal data, non-animal data and predictions from computer-based modelling in assessing the risk of chemical compounds”. The workshop is aimed at regulators, academic and industrial scientists and stakeholders such as chemical industries, animal welfare experts and public organizations. Registration is free, limited to the availability.
RAINBOW is an EC funded project. The main objective of the RAINBOW project is to gather in a workshop communities with experience in animal and non-animal data and predictions from computer-based modelling to discuss how to achieve a better risk assessment (RA) of chemical compounds, integrating their experiences through a workshop. RAINBOW is multidisciplinary and multisectorial. Regulators, scientists, problem holders, animal welfare experts, citizen organizations, and chemical industry
will participate. The workshop discussions will be useful to break down barriers between scientific and societal areas. The REACH initiative will be discussed in its implications on the integration of methodologies.
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EU 7th Framework Programme Projects / preparation: SusChem |
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II.3.1. Sustainable Chemistry
The Technology Platform SusChem has been formed and finalized its Implementation Action Plan. It will be presented by July 7, 2006 on their website.
The 4th stakeholder event took place in Budapest, August 27, 2006 in connection with the 1st European Chemistry Congress to discuss the Implementation Action Plan. ecopa participated in the Horizontal Issues Group.
» http://www.suschem.org/media.php?mId=4727
II.3.2. Preparation 7th Framework Programme Projects
News on the workshop "EU funded research on alternatives to animal experimentation: stocktaking from FP6 and views for the future" that took place on 13-14 June 2006. The overall objective of this workshop was to identify gaps in research in the area of development of alternatives to animal testing, to explore ways to close this gap, and to identify opportunities for strategic research activities to be formulated and implemented under FP7.
Additional info on this workshop with the official report and the new topics that were discussed for future projects can be found here:
II.3.3. A look into the future
Although the final overall budget of €54,5 bn is lower than the €72.7m originally proposed by the European Commission, it is still substantially higher then the €16.3bn allocated for FP6 (2002-06). In other words, €7bn/year for research compared with €4bn/year under FP6. SMEs and public non-profit organisations will also get 75% of their costs funded, compared with 50% under FP6. Health (€6050m), nanosciences (€3500m), energy (€2300) and food,
agriculture and biotechnology (€1935m) – including the most controversial area of stem cell research – all receive a welcome boost.(Source: ICIS, 13/7-13/8/2006) |
III.1.1. ecopa events
III.1.1.1. 7th Annual ecopa Workshop
The 7th Annual ecopa Workshop will take place 25-26 November 2006, in the Brussels Sheraton Airport hotel, in Brussels, Belgium.
III.1.1.2. eSI: ecopa Science initiative
The eSI-Conference under the heading: "Reaching the young scientist" is an initiative organised by ecopa aimed at bringing together senior as well as young researchers to discuss about the new technologies and their applicability in in vitro research as well as to improve creativity and innovation in the search for alternative methods. ecopa had performed a detailed literature analysis of the last 5 years of research in alternative methods and had concluded that this area
of applied research is drying out.
After a first eSi-conference in 2004, ecopa had now invited to Alicante/Spain again some renowned European scientists, i.e. "doyens" in their field of research such as proteomics, genomics, pharmaco-and toxicogenomics, but also of other areas that might have relevance to the development of alternative methods. In addition, ecopa had asked experts of technology applications to give their input as well. Also, ecopa invited some young research scientists and postdocs who might
have some application for their current research projects.
The Workshop took place in Alicante with 53 participants representing 17 European countries.
III.1.1.2.2 eSI Recent News
The full report of the 2nd eSI meeting, September 29 -30 2006 at Pueblo Acantilado near Alicante, Spain can be read here.
The final program is listed on the ecopa website in the archive section.
Some reactions of some of the young scientists:
“I am writing to thank you for the wonderful conference in Alicante this last weekend. It was really an excellent forum and I was very pleased to be able to participate…So again I thank you for the invitation and giving me the chance to share my ideas and interests.”
Dr. Lara Ogunshola, Group Leader, Institute of Veterinary Physiology, Switzerland
“The exchange with renowned scientists as well as PhD-students in the area of drug transport have confirmed my interest in in-vitro models and resulted in new contact possibilities…”
Anne Mahringer.Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Fakultät für Biowissenschaften, Institut für Pharmazie und Molekulare Biotechnologie, Abteilung Pharmazeutische Technologie und Pharmakologie, Germany.
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III.1.2. other events
Executives on Target Summit, October 24-25, 2006
The Pharmaceutical Strategy Series holds its annual Executives on Target Summit to be held October 24-25, 2006, as part of Discovery on Target. This Summit, in its second year running, brings together leaders in the area of early stage discovery. The purpose of the summit is to provide a forum to discuss and debate the changing landscape of target discovery and offer solutions on how to increase productivity.
Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Fourth Annual
Target Discovery & Target Validation Strategies
October 23-27, 2006 World Trade Center, Boston, MA
» http://www.discoveryontarget.com/
NICEATM and ICCVAM organize a workshop on alternative methods to reduce, refine, or replace the mouse LD50 assay for botulinum toxin testing
November 13-14, 2006 Silber Spring, MD
The National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) and Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) has published a Federal Register (FR) notice announcing a workshop on alternative methods to reduce, refine, or replace the mouse LD50 assay for botulinum toxin testing. NICEATM and ICCVAM, in conjunction with the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM),
are organizing this workshop to (a) review the state-of-the-science and current status of alternative methods that may reduce, replace, or refine (less pain and distress) the use of mice for botulinum toxin testing and (b) identify priorities for research, development, and validation efforts needed to advance the use of alternative methods for botulinum toxin testing. The workshop will be held on November 13-14, 2006 in Silver Spring, MD.
The Federal Register: http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/docs/FR/frnotice.htm
The second NC3Rs Primate Welfare Meeting
November 14 2006, London, UK.
The second NC3Rs Primate Welfare Meeting will take place on 14 November 2006 and will focus on welfare assessment. It will feature a series of presentations on methods of assessing health and psychological well-being in Old World and New World monkeys. Use of behavioural, physiological, immunological and physical measures will be covered, from a variety of research and care settings. The preliminary programme is available below. The meeting is free and open to laboratory personnel working
directly with primates. If you would like to attend the meeting, or for more information, please contact events@nc3rs.org.uk
Celebration of the 15th anniversary of ECVAM on the 29th of October.
To celebrate this event, there will be a ceremony in Ispra on the evening of the 16th of November. During the ceremony, ECVAM will also have the pleasure to present the ECVAM database service on alternative methods to animal experimentation (DB-ALM) which goes online on 29 October 2006 at the address http://ecvam-dbalm.jrc.cec.eu.int
Practical Training Course on Alternative Test Methods in Reproductive Toxicology
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany in cooperation with the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, BfR, Berlin
Training course 4: 07. - 08. December 2006. Reproductive Toxicology.
The practical training focuses on the Embryonic Stem Cell Test.
For more information see: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~invitrot/
Deadline for application: Nov. 24th 2006
The EC project RAINBOW organizes an international workshop, in Milan, Italy,
11-13 December, 2006-05-27 at Mario Negri Institute, Milan, Italy.
The discussion will be on „How to integrate and make optimal use of animal data, non-animal data and predictions from computer-based modeling in assessing the risk of chemical compounds”.
More info: http://www.rainbow-project.eu/
ICT XI - International Congress of Toxicology
15-19 July 2007 Montreal, Canada For more information about this meeting, please visit our website: http://www.ict2007.org |
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III.2.1. 2006 Animal Welfare Enhancement Awards
Attention lab technicians, animal technicians, and all who work with laboratory animals: The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) now is accepting proposals for the 2006 Animal Welfare Enhancement Awards. Deadline for submissions is December 1st, 2006.
» http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/AWE/call.htm
III.2.2. 2006 Eurotox/HIS/P&G Awards
» http://pg.com/science/animal_alt.jhtml
The Review Committe for the 2006 Animal Welfare and Alternatives Awards consisted of
Prof. Herman Autrup (Denmark) Professor of Environmental Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Aarhus (Denmark). President, EUROTOX Executive Committee.
Prof. Corrado Galli (Switzerland) Professor of Toxicology in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Milan (Italy) and Director of the Laboratory of Toxicology and of the Research Center on Risk Assessment (RCRA). Vice-President, EUROTOX Executive Committee.
Dr. Frank Gerberick (USA) Victor Mills Research Fellow with responsibility for the development of alternative methods at P&G, Cincinnati (USA).
Prof. Jann Hau (Denmark)Professor of Comparative Medicine and Head of the Department of Experimental Medicine at the University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen (Denmark). Recipient of the 2005 EUROTOX/HIS/P&G Animal Welfare Award.
Prof. Vera Rogiers (Belgium) Professor and Head of the Department of Toxicology, Dermato-Cosmetology and Pharmacognosy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium). Recipient of the 2005 EUROTOX/HIS/P&G Alternatives Award.
Prof. Andrew Rowan (Republic of South Africa) Executive Vice President for Operations at the Humane Society of the United States® (HSUS). CEO of Humane Society International (HIS). Adjunct Professor at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Senior Fellow at the Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy.
III.2.3. NC3Rs 3Rs Prize
The 3Rs Prize, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, is to recognise a piece of published work that advances, or has the potential to advance, knowledge in the 3Rs.
The prize replaces the GlaxoSmithKline Laboratory Animal Welfare Prize previously administered by the RDS, and the prize funds have been significantly increased. Prize funds of £10k will are awarded to an individual or team for a piece of work published over the proceeding two years.
Publications within all areas of biological, medical and veterinary research or testing will be considered by a distinguished panel and the prize will be awarded each January. The NC3Rs has now awarded its first 3Rs prize to Dr Siouxsie Wiles. The next deadline for entries is 3 November 2006.
» http://www.nc3rs.org.uk/page.asp?id=149
III.2.4. NC3Rs 3Rs Research Funding Scheme: Re-using cow eyes to help replace animal tests
A proposal to re-use cow eyes left over as abattoir waste, as a replacement for animal tests, is one of nine projects that have been awarded funding by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) today (Monday 31 July 2006). Read the whole article on the NC3Rs 3Rs Research Funding Scheme:
» http://www.nc3rs.org.uk/news.asp?id=278
III.2.5. 2006 Intervet - Dieter Lütticken Award
For those interested please refer to the link of the press release "Intervet Dieter Lütticken Award - Intervet’s award to reduce the number of animals used in testing for development and production of animal veterinary medicines".
III.2.6. Announcement of the Doerenkamp-Zbinden-Prize 2007
The Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation for Animal-Free* Research will again award a prize for outstanding achievements in scientific animal protection in 2007. Suggestions for the prize may be made by members of the Foundation Board or the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation as well as by recognized institutions of science and animal protection (e.g. universities, scientific societies, private research institutions, interregional animal protection organisations).
Direct applications for the prize are not possible. Suggestions may be made by the 15th of December 2006. If no convincing suggestions for a laureate are made to the Foundation Board, the prize will not be awarded in 2007. The award ceremony will take place at the 14th Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing in Linz in September 2007).
For more info see website:
» http://www.doerenkamp.ch/en/default.html?id=64 |
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III.2.7. The new ECVAM Workshop Report no. 56 with the title "The Assessment of Repeated Dose Toxicity In Vitro: A Proposed Approach." is
now available. The Workshop Report can be downloaded from the ECVAM Website. http://ecvam.jrc.it/ Please select inside "Publications" the section Workshop Reports.
III.2.8. Final In Vitro Ocular Background Review Documents Available
The final Background Review Documents (BRDs) on the ³Current Status of In Vitro Test Methods for Detecting Ocular Corrosives and Severe Irritants² for the Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability, the Isolated Chicken Eye, the Isolated Rabbit Eye, and the Hen¹s Egg Test-Chorioallantoic Membrane test methods are now available on-line at
» http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/methods/ocudocs/ocu_brd.htm
III.2.9. InterNICHE book on-line
Free download of InterNICHE book "From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse: Alternative Methods for a Humane Education" (2nd ed.). See News at the InterNICHE website for links to the download page:
» http://www.interniche.org
III.2.10. Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual
CELL-BASED ASSAYS FOR HTS – CD available:
Cell-Based Assays for HTS CD (Price: $250)
» http://www.WorldPharmaCongress.com/
III.2.11. ECVAM database service on alternative methods to animal experimentation
(DB-ALM) starting from 29 October 2006
ECVAM, part of the JRC's Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), has the pleasure to announce that, on occasion of the 15th anniversary of ECVAM, online access is provided to the ECVAM database service on alternative methods to animal experimentation (DB-ALM)at the address:
» ecvam-dbalm.jrc.cec.eu.int
DB-ALM will replace the current "SIS online" version at the address ecvam-sis.jrc.it. ECVAM thanks the ca. 5000 registered users for the interest shown in this service and hopes to welcome them back to DB-ALM. |
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III.3. Calls and vacancies
III.3.1. ESF/European Science Foundation, Calls 2006
The ESF received 47 EUROCORES theme proposals in reply to the 2006 Call for EUROCORES themes which was closed on 1 June 2006. – take out – 47 as news! EUROCORES (European Science Foundation Collaborative Research) The scheme provides a framework to bring together national research funding organisations to support European research.
» http://www.esf.org/esf_activity_home.php?language=0&domain=0&activity=7
III.3.2. JRC, Call for Expression of Interest
Validation of alternative test methods -call for expressions of interest The Institute for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has launched a call for expressions of interest for the validation of alternative test methods.
To see the full details of the call, please consult the following web address:
» http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?REQUEST=Seek-Deliver&LANGUAGE=en&DOCID=047741-2006
The deadline for submitting tender documents is 24.11.2008.
Document Reference: OJ No S 46-047741 of 8.3.200
RCN: 25319
III.3.3. Call for abstract International Congress of Toxicology, Montréal, Canada ICT XI's theme - "Toxicology: Discovery Serving Society".
Electronically submitted abstracts will be accepted for peer review until 11:59 p.m. (EST), January 18, 2007. Please note the following important deadlines and add them to your calendar: Abstract Submission Deadline January 18, 2007 (11:59 p.m. EST) Advance/Early Registration May 1, 2007 Accommodation Deadline June 1, 2007
For further information, please visit the Congress web site at: www.ict2007.org or contact the Secretariat at ict2007@nrc.ca The website also contains information on the program, registration, accommodations, organized tours, social functions and many other details to facilitate
your attendance to this international meeting.
III.3.4. Searching for the Animal of Animal Ethics, IX Annual Swedish Symposium on Biomedicine, Ethics and Society, Seglarhotellet, Sandhamn (Stockholm archipelago) 11-12 June 2007
We now call for abstracts for presentations in two parallel sessions. Presentations will be 20 minutes. After each presentation there will be 10 minutes set aside for discussion. Submission deadline: 1 March 2007 Please submit your abstract via e-mail to: bioethics@bioethics.uu.se Abstracts should not exceed 250 words, be submitted in word format and include name, title, affiliation and correspondence address. Programme and abstracs will be published on our website, www.bioethics.se/sympoisum/2007 by
the end of March 2007. |
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Vacancies
III.3.5. Vacancy scientific leader of the zet Life Science Laboratory
zet announces an open position for the scientific leader of the zet Life Science Laboratory. Interested scientists are invited to send their applications in electronic form to: ZET-Centre for Alternative and Complementary Methods to Animal Testing Attention of Dr. Harald Schöffl, Garnisonstrasse 21, 4020 LINZ, Austria. Email: office@zet.or.at.
Deadline for submitting applications: 31st October 2006 Further details can be found on the webpage of zet: www.zet.or.at
III.3.6. A Project manager is sought by the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation for the project "Companion Animals".
An experienced scientist from the areas of veterinary medicine, biology or medicine with a background in pharmacology/toxicology is sought for the project "Companion Animals", which is a cooperation between ECVAM and the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation and has a planned duration of three years. Organisations with the required scientific competence may also apply. Please send an application with the relevant documents (CV, publication list). Deadline for submitting applications:
1st November 2006 Contact address for submitting applications: The President of the DZF, PD Dr. Franz P. Gruber, Hegarstr. 9, Postfach 1766, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland. Or by e-mail:info@doerenkamp-zbinden.org More Information: http://www.doerenkamp.ch/de/default.html?id=3
ESAC validity statements
The ECVAM SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ESAC) has made the following validity statements under the following links:
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III.5. Obituary
Professor William Russell, who originally developed the concept of the 3Rs with his colleague Rex Burch, sadly died on 27 July 2006 at the age of 81.
Professor William Russell, a zoologist and sociologist, born on March 26, 1925. was best known for The Principles of Human Experimental Technique, written in 1959 with Rex Burch. In it they introduced the Three Rs of biomedical experimentation: “replacement” of experimental animals with insentient materials such as tissue culture; “reduction” in the number of animals used to obtain given information; and “refinement” of experimental procedures to
minimise — and, if possible, eliminate — the infliction of pain and distress.
When first published the book did not receive much attention. But in the 1980s the new science they had started suddenly took off. The Three Rs are now embodied in the legislation of the European Union and have become the object of research by hundreds of scientists worldwide. There are chairs in the subjects in the Netherlands and Germany and triennial world congresses on them, which began in Baltimore in 1993.
The work of the Russells’ had such wide ranging influence that a website devoted to Russell Studies (www.askrussell.com) was founded in Zimbabwe.
In 1990 the Humane Society of the United States founded the international Russell and Burch award for scientific contributions to laboratory animal welfare, and in 1994 Frame, the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiment, named its new building in Nottingham the Russell and Burch House.
http://www.askrussell.com/index.cfm
On this website you will find all of the Russell's publications to date, including seven books, contributions to over forty other books, over 200 articles, as well as partnership, scholarship and study opportunities.
Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2322677,00.html |
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III.6 VARIA
Cascade www.cascadenet.org
The CASCADE Network of Excellence seeks durable coordination and integration of European research on the human health effects of chemical residues in food. CASCADE brings 24 research groups from nine EU member states together and the network is financed by the European Commission (EU contract no. FOOD-CT-2004-506319). The research within CASCADE focuses on human health effects of chemical residues in food and drinking water. These residues can interfere, even at low levels, with the
function of hormone systems in the body. The chemicals mimic human hormones by interaction with cellular structures called nuclear receptors. This family of receptors includes receptors for hormones like estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormone. A disrupted nuclear receptor function may be linked to increased risk of widespread conditions, like cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, reduced fertility, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and neurodegenerative disease |
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