Published:
Heriot-Watt researchers have been announced as joint recipients of an award to develop an in-vitro test to predict the development of lung fibrosis in humans following exposure to nanomaterials.
Professor Vicki Stone, Director of Nanosafety in the School of Life Sciences and the Director of Toxicology for SAFENANO, and Professor Dr. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser of the Adolphe Merkle Institute at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, have been jointly awarded £200,000 by the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd to develop the test method.
The labs developing this test are at the forefront of cutting-edge research in the field.
The announcement is part of PETA’s stated long-term goal is to develop additional in vitro assays and computer models which can be used in combination to predict the inhalation toxicity of nanomaterials.
"The PETA International Science Consortium is pleased to fund the development of an in vitro method intended to protect human health and replace the use of rats in 90-day inhalation toxicity tests," says the Science Consortium's Dr Amy Clippinger. "The labs developing this test are at the forefront of cutting-edge research in the field, and we're excited to collaborate with them on this project."
Professor Stone said, “My colleagues and I, at Heriot-Watt and in Switzerland, are delighted to have received this award which will allow us to develop a test method in this important and developing field, a useful alternative to the use of animals in testing.”