ToxBank Public Forum, Replacing Animal Testing

ToxBank Public Forum
26 – 27 October 2015,
Wellcome Collection,
London, United Kingdom

Advances toward Replacement of Animal Testing

In this forum we will discuss the results of the recent research and development of alternative testing methods aimed to replace animal testing, and the potential impact this work has on our society.

To make a good decision on safety we need to bring both expertise and relevant human scientific information together to form the basis for a structured well-informed discussion leading to best judgement based on available evidence and opinions formed on it.

Such a knowledge integration is required in many areas of toxicology and safety assessment based on scientific knowledge generated by a growing number of alternative testing research methods and initiatives. Integration may include evidence from in vitro or in silico methods, biology or chemistry, science and engineering, human health or environment-oriented, and requires both effective organisation of knowledge and communications to reach common understandings.

All alternative testing applications require a sound reproducible scientific basis and the use of good practices in characterising experiments, organising data and describing concepts in our knowledge framework.

We also need community frameworks to bring different disciplines together for fruitful interactions and discussions to progress the introduction of new alternatives to replace animal testing.

In this session we will explore the emerging opportunities for innovation in safety research and assessment based on a set of diverse contributing perspectives from current initiatives in this area.

We will complete the session with a forum with interactive audience participation on questions and suggestions from audience members.