First Annual Conference on the State of the Science on Development and Use of New Approach Methods (NAMs) for Chemical Safety Testing

On September 10, 2019, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a directive that prioritizes efforts to reduce animal testing. The memorandum calls for the agency to reduce its requests for, and funding of, mammal studies by 30 percent by 2025, and eliminate all mammal study requests and funding by 2035. Any mammal studies requested or funded by EPA after 2035 will require administrator approval on a case-by-case basis. It also directs the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention and the Office of Research and Development to prioritize ongoing efforts, and to direct existing resources, toward additional activities that will demonstrate measurable impacts in the reduction of animal testing while ensuring protection of human health and the environment. Administrator Wheeler also announced $4.25 million in funding to five universities to research the development and use of alternative test methods and strategies that reduce, refine, and/or replace vertebrate animal testing.

Directive to Prioritize Efforts to Reduce Animal Testing

Conference Background

EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) and Office of Research and Development (ORD) hosted the First Annual Conference on the State of the Science on Development and Use of New Approach Methods (NAMs) for Chemical Safety Testing.

This conference was one of EPA’s commitments as set forth in the "Directive to Prioritize Efforts to Reduce Animal Testing" memorandum Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed on September 10, 2019 calling for the Agency to reduce its use of mammalian studies. EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, and OCSPP Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dunn addressed the group.

Agenda topics

Establishing Baselines for Animal Use at EPA and Opportunities for Reduction
Variability and Relevance of Current Animal Tests and Expectations for NAMs
State of the Science in Development and Application of NAMs
Developing Scientific Confidence in NAMs
Breakout Discussions

Additional Links

Logistical Details

Date

The conference was held December 17, 2019.

Location

The Conference was held in EPA’s William Jefferson Clinton East Building at Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and made available by webinar.

Questions?

Please contact ICF, the organizing contractor with questions about Conference proceedings.

Email EPA-Workshops@icf.com

Conference Agenda and Materials

2019 Agenda

	Presentation	Presenter	Affiliation
1.	Retrospective analysis of the statutory requirements, study requests, and research utilization in OCSPP and ORD	Anna Lowit	EPA
2.	Variability of animal studies for acute toxicity, skin sensitization, and mechanistic responses	Nicole Kleinstreuer	NICEATM
3.	Qualitative and quantitative variability of repeat dose animal toxicity studies	Katie Paul Friedman	EPA
4.	Development of NAMs to predict acute toxicological responses	Dave Allen	Integrated Laboratory Systems
5.	Application of NAMs for quantitative screening level risk decisions	Tara Barton-Maclaren	Health Canada
6.	State of the science for predicting developmental toxicity using NAMs	George Daston	Proctor & Gamble
7.	Advances in the development of organotypic and tissue chip technologies for toxicity testing	Dan Tagle	National Institutes of Health
8.	Development and application of in vitro methods for evaluating respiratory irritants	Doug Wolf	Syngenta
9.	Identifying endocrine disrupting chemicals using in vitro and computational approaches	Maureen Gwinn	EPA
10.	New Approaches to Validation and Characterizing Performance of NAMs	Warren Casey	NICEATM

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