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Adverse Outcome Pathways: Moving from a scientific concept to a globally accepted framework
Citation:
LaLone, C. AND M. Hecker. Adverse Outcome Pathways: Moving from a scientific concept to a globally accepted framework. Society of Toxicology Meeting and Toxexpo, San Antonio, TX, March 11 - 15, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The presentation provides a summary of the output from a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Pellston Workshop. Specifically the presentation will discuss a global ?‘Horizon Scanning’ (question solicitation) exercise that aimed to identify challenges or limitations that must be addressed to realize the full potential of the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework in research and regulatory decision making. A subsequent expert ranking exercise of the 340 questions submitted, led to the development of key initiatives for advancing the AOP framework. The key themes identified from the expert ranking exercise were then addressed at the Pellston workshop. This presentation serves to set the stage for subsequent presentations in the session describing the outcomes from the discussions at the workshop, describe cross-cutting themes that emerged from those discussions, and answers frequently asked questions and clarify misperceptions identified from horizon scanning.
Description:
In 2016, an international multi-sector steering committee focusing on the development of a Society of Environmental Toxicology (SETAC) Pellston Workshop reached out to the membership of the Society of Toxicology as well as other national and international scientific and regulatory communities to assess the state of the science for the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework. This collaboration aimed to collect questions, via a web-based Horizon Scanning effort, to provide an opportunity to understand key outstanding challenges that must be addressed in order to realize the full potential of the AOP in research and regulatory decision-making. During this Horizon Scanning effort, a total of 340 valid questions were received and ranked by an international expert group from academia, government, industry, and Non-Governmental Organizations. This ranking exercise resulted in the identification of four distinct but connected core themes that were addressed during the SETAC Pellston Workshop held in April 2017. Outcomes from discussions on each theme will be summarized in the subsequent presentations addressing: 1) AOP networks and their applications ; 2) quantitative AOPs and their applications; 3) regulatory use of the AOP framework; and 4) the development of a roadmap to expand awareness of, involvement in, and application of the AOP framework and AOP knowledgebase in the broader scientific and regulatory/environmental policy communities. Furthermore, the Horizon Scanning exercise provided the opportunity to identify common misperceptions and necessary AOP topics needing clarification, as well as bring forth new thinking to advance the science and discuss the path forward for the AOP framework. This introductory presentation will provide an overview of the Horizon Scanning approach and expert ranking exercise, and the overall outcomes and common themes that emerged during these exercises and the Pellston Workshop. It will set stage for the subsequent presentations that each address one of the four main themes listed above. Cross-cutting topics that spanned these main themes included the need to simplify, translate, and better communicate the AOP framework to the broader international stakeholder community, and a consensus that the AOP framework does not represent a rigid tool but rather a knowledge repository for diverse stakeholders ranging from epidemiologists to mainstream experimental toxicologist to risk assessors and managers. Furthermore, when considering the AOP framework and its applications, the field of environmental toxicology and human health have begun to naturally merge in light of methodologies focusing on mechanisms of toxicity brought about from the paradigm shift of toxicology in the 21st century.