London -- Researchers from the University of Cincinnati, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Selventa, Inc., are being recognized by the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. with awards for their contributions to the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Wiki, which was created by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S EPA), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The award was launched at the JRC booth at the 51st Annual EUROTOX Congress held in Porto, Portugal, in September 2015. Winners were selected based on the number and merit of their contributions to the AOP Wiki between September 2015 and October 2016.
AOPs describe the mechanisms by which substances, such as chemicals and drugs, cause adverse human health effects. This framework can be used to help scientists design animal-free testing approaches to predict adverse effects and protect human health.
Held in coordination with the U.S. EPA, the contest encouraged contributions to the AOP Wiki, which is a publicly available online encyclopedia created to promote international collaboration and efficient sharing of AOPs.
Award winners made hundreds of updates to the AOP Wiki that improve our understanding of how chemicals cause toxicity. Further development and implementation of AOPs and non-animal test methods will help prevent rats, dogs, and other animals from being used in testing.
"We encourage scientists around the world to contribute to the AOP Wiki," says Dr. Amy Clippinger, associate director of the Consortium. "AOPs can benefit humans and animals when used to design reliable animal-free testing approaches that are based on human-relevant mechanisms."
The AOP Wiki can be accessed at https://aopkb.org/.
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The PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. was established in 2012 to coordinate the scientific and regulatory expertise of its members--PETA U.K., PETA U.S., PETA France, PETA Germany, PETA India, PETA Netherlands, PETA Asia, and PETA Australia. It works to accelerate the development, validation, and global implementation of alternatives to animal testing.
For more information, please visit PISCLtd.org.uk and http://www.piscltd.org.uk/aop-prize.