Our services and expertise
- Improvement of risk assessment methods:
Development of integrated testing strategies (e.g. for the endpoint repeated-dose toxicity within the EU projekt OSIRIS); verification of predictiveness of in-vitro/in-silico screening methods (e.g. within the EU project ChemScreen) - Scientific basic principles of risk assessment:
Enhancement and improvement of TTC concepts including inhalation, extrapolation factors, and concepts for (nano-)particles - Exposure:
Development and validation of models and scenarios (e.g. SprayExpo, ESDs); evaluation of risk mitigation measures; development of analytical methods - Toxicological databases:
We develop databases and perform database analyses, for example, with regard to repeated-dose toxicity (RepDose®), reproductive and developmental toxicity (FeDTex), and inhalation studies with nanoparticles (PaFTox); we furthermore develop ontologies for databases to enable uniform description of effects. All databases can be queried together in our ToxTool® - (Q)SAR and investigation of structurally related substances:
Models of qualitative or quantitative structure-activity relationship; investigation of structurally related substances (definition of groups or analogy); development and assessment of substance categories by using our own or third-party databases (e.g. OECD toolbox) - Expert reports:
In the form of expert reports, we document the (eco-)toxicological properties of substances and assess their risks to human health and the environment, for example, in the event of contamination or chemical residues in foods and products.
Toxicology databases
To support the process of international standardization of nomenclature and diagnostic criteria a team of scientists at the Fraunhofer ITEM are engaged in establishing different toxicology databases. This multidisciplinary team has many years of experience in designing, developing, and operating databases and electronic information systems for current issues in toxicology and toxicologic pathology.
To provide the required technical support for the databases goReni and DevTox, the team cooperates with the Fraunhofer ITEM Department of Pathology and the Working Group on Reproductive Toxicology as well as with numerous national and international societies and organizations.
The databases for Repeated Dose Toxicity (RepDose®) and Reprotoxicity (FeDTex) are used to develop risk assessment strategies and to identify (quantitative) structure-activity relationships ((Q)SAR).
Methods and expertise
- Database design and development
- Technical support for standardization and international harmonization issues in toxicological pathology
- Software development
- Statistical analysis
- Development and implementation of information systems for stand-alone usage or for the Internet
- Image analysis: e.g. procedures for the quantitative evaluation of cell proliferation measurements