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ALTWEB Newsletter
February 2008
- NIH, EPA Announce Collaboration on Toxicity Testing
- CAAT Winter 2007/2008 Newsletter
- Save The Date: TestSmart DNT 2
- Altweb: Special Section on Refinement
- CAAT Blog: "A Boundless Ethic"
- CAAT 2009-10 Grants: Call for Preproposals
- AltTox: New Website Devoted to Non-Animal Methods of Toxicity Testing
- Alternatives to Toxicity Testing in Animals: What a Changing Regulatory Landscape Will Mean for Lawyers, Scientists, and Animal Advocates
- iPhone or iPod Touch User? Add a Webclip Bookmark Icon for Altweb and CAAT
- CAAT on Facebook
- News from Around the Web
- Upcoming Meetings
NIH, EPA Announce Collaboration on Toxicity Testing
Plan Expedites Alternatives to Animal Testing
CAAT Winter 2007/2008 Newsletter
CAAT's Winter 2007/2008 Newsletter features a wrap-up of the 6th World Congress in Tokyo; an interview with CAAT Advisory Board member David Owen about the implementation of REACH legislation in the EU (and what it means for U.S. industry); a feature article about the "economic imperative" of alternatives; updates on grants, new programs, and much more.
You can download the full PDF of the newsletter, for reading online or to print, by clicking here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
Altweb Introduces Special Section on Refinement
Altweb has introduced a new special section on the topic of Refinement, the third of the "Three Rs" of alternatives. The section features introductory text explaining the topic in non-technical language, accompanied by a set of links to relevant databases, web sites, books, articles, abstracts, and more.
SAVE THE DATE: TestSmart DNT 2 Conference To Be Held November 12-14, 2008
Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) is a major issue in children's health worldwide. The developing human nervous system is susceptible to many toxicants, and chemical exposure during development may cause lasting neurological deficits.
CAAT's first TestSmart DNT meeting, held March 2006, sought to identify the concerns relating to the science and policy of DNT and to the development of alternative testing methodologies. DNT II will assess progress made in developing DNT alternatives, reassess the priorities and recommendations established at DNT I, and outline new and continuing goals.
This meeting will bring together diverse stakeholders from around the globe, including research scientists, government scientists, regulators, policy analysts, industry representatives, academics, and advocacy groups concerned with children's health, animal welfare, and environmental protection.
The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia.
More information here.
CAAT Blog: "A Boundless Ethic"
“We need a boundless ethic that includes animals also.”
—Albert Schweitzer
CAAT's animal news blog, "A Boundless Ethic," was launched in the summer of 2007. Designed to appeal to lay audiences, as well as scientists and those interested in alternatives, the blog has grown steadily, attracting visitors from over 120 countries.
Please visit, add your comments, and suggest stories!
2009-10 Grants: Call for Proposals
DEADLINE: February 22, 2008
The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) is soliciting projects which focus on the implementation of the NAS Report: Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy in the following areas:
- Refinement: maximum grant amount is $25,000 per year. These grants should focus specifically on the issues of alleviating pain and/or distress in laboratory protocols. These studies should focus on the development of better methods for pain assessment, alleviation, elimination and/or prevention of pain in animal experiments.
- Proposals relating to toxicology: maximum grant amount is $25,000 per year. These grants should be developed to provide understanding of mechanism/mode of action and to consider how one would be able to translate the mechanism to a method that can be used to evaluate/predict health consequences.
- Developmental Toxicology: maximum grant amount is $50,000 per year. The Center is interested in grants focusing on Developmental Toxicology and Developmental Neurotoxicology. These studies can be either in vitro, involve embryonic stem cells, or involve species such as c. elegans or zebrafish. These grants should be developed to provide understanding of mechanism/mode of action and to consider how one would be able to translate the mechanism to a method that can be used to evaluate/predict health consequences. Whole-animal, mammalian studies are not appropriate
AltTox: New Website Devoted to Non-animal Methods of Toxicity Testing
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have launched a new website devoted exclusively to non-animal methods of toxicity testing. AltTox.org covers toxicity testing subfields, non-animal technologies, relevant government programs and policies, and challenges and opportunities in validation and regulatory acceptance.
In addition to providing succinct background information on these
topics, AltTox also features a series of discussion forums and invited
commentaries on the way forward in pivotal areas.
The website's content is overseen by an international editorial board of distinguished scientists and policy experts, who also serve as moderators of the discussion forums.
Alternatives to Toxicity Testing in Animals: What a Changing Regulatory Landscape Will Mean for Lawyers, Scientists, and Animal Advocates
This summer, the National Academy of Sciences released its report “Toxicity Testing in the Twenty-First Century: A Vision and a Strategy.” Commissioned by EPA, the report advocates sweeping and transformative changes in regulatory toxicity testing. It envisages a shift from the current whole animal-based testing systems to testing founded primarily on in vitro methods that evaluate changes in biologic processes using cells, cell lines, or cellular components. This change is expected to generate more robust data and expand capabilities to test chemicals more efficiently. It is also expected to improve animal welfare and substantially reduce (and ultimately eliminate) the use of whole animals in toxicity testing. Applying twenty-first century toxicology to regulatory testing creates challenges and opportunities for scientists, risk assessors, environmental attorneys, and animal advocates. At this seminar, panelists examined this report, the vision it sets forth, and the forces bearing on its implementation.
Audio of the seminar available here (RealPlayer format)
iPhone or iPod Touch User? Add a Webclip Bookmark Icon for Altweb and CAAT
We've made it easy for you to access Altweb and CAAT from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Just visit the main page in mobile Safari, click "Add to Home Screen" and you'll have a one-touch access to the sites.
CAAT on Facebook
You can join the CAAT Facebook group and become a fan of CAAT (Facebook membership necessary).
News from Around the Web
Global news about alternatives and the 3 Rs:
Cefic-LRI and EUROTOX Invite Proposals for 2008 Innovative Science Award
Thousands of rodents saved from drug testing
HSUS January Pain and Distress Report (pdf)
What's New at ILAR (January 2008)
Stay up-to-date by visiting Altweb or subscribing to our RSS feed.
Upcoming Meetings
PRIM&R: 2008 Annual Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) Conference
March 25-28, 2008
Atlanta, GA
Alternatives to Animal Testing: New Approaches in the Development and Control of Biologicals
April 23-24, 2008
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Engineering Tissue Alternatives to Animals
April 30, 2008
London, UK
Conference: Nanotechnology Towards Reducing Animal Testing
May 28-29, 2008
London, England
For a complete calendar of upcoming meetings, visit the Altweb Calendar.