Note: As of 2022, the former Animal Alternatives in ERA and Bioaccumulation Committees have merged to form the Next Generation ERA Committee
To develop, refine, and communicate the scientific tools and approaches needed to support ecological risk assessment around the globe, with a focus on alternative, non-animal testing methods.
This group held two workshops in Q4 of 2023. Key consensuses from the workshop included the need for a coordinated network of experts interested in ecotoxicology and a movement from a 1:1 replacement of existing methods towards an integrative assessment strategy. To support this, the working group has been coordinating the Innovate EcoTox workshop in 2025, and developing a plan for illustrative, integrative case studies.
The committee has funded a multi-year project at the University of Saskatchewan to develop a bird in vitro biotransformation assay. The advisory team assisted in selecting chemicals to evaluate the developed methods and has been meeting regularly with the research team at the University of Saskatchewan. This work was presented by University of Saskatchewan colleagues at the Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop 2023, SETAC North America 44th Annual Meeting, and SETAC Europe 34th Annual Meeting.
In Q3 of 2023, a small sub-team submitted an OECD case study on the use of Integrated Approaches for Testing and Assessment (IATA) for bioaccumulation. This case study aims to guide the collection, generation, evaluation, and weighting of various types of bioaccumulation data to enhance the prediction of chemicals’ ecological effects. The OECD has recently published the IATA, which is available here.
This group is investigating the influence of bird life history traits on chemical exposure. A manuscript on the current state of the science in this field is in progress, and a database of bird life history traits has been developed.
This team, a collaboration between HESI and NC3Rs, is focused on assessing available in vitro/in silico methods (new approach methodologies [NAMs]) to evaluate chemicals that may act via an endocrine pathway in fish and amphibians. Within this effort, several sub-groups focus on related supporting topics:
This group is tasked with developing a strategy to update and augment the EnviroTox database (https://envirotoxdatabase.org) and refine and further develop applicable tools. They are also scoping future work, including mode of action classifications, acute-to-chronic ratios for extrapolation, and understanding water quality criteria values globally.
This group is working on scoping the needs & advancements in fish toxicokinetics and PBPK models. As part of this effort, they are mapping out available bioaccumulation methods/models to organize and present PBPK models in a more transparent and accessible way for end users.
Effluent Assessment: This team is working to engage with various stakeholders about current effluent testing approaches and needs within North America, to identify the opportunities and limitations related to alternative methods. Ongoing work is focused on the development of informational webinars and information sharing across stakeholders to identify suitable next steps.
Deputy Director
Director, Center for Environmental and Ecological Health (CEEH)
membry@hesiglobal.orgMichelle Embry received her PhD in Toxicology in 2004 and her BS in Biology and Environmental Science and Policy in 1998 from Duke University. She is currently the Deputy Director of Environmental Science at HESI, where she provides leadership, technical direction, and guidance to varied, multi-stakeholder, collaborative committees on topics related to risk assessment and environmental protection worldwide.
Prior to joining HESI in 2006, Dr. Embry worked as an Ecological Risk Assessor at the US EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs. She has expertise in both human health and ecotoxicology, with an emphasis on integrated approaches and alternative methods. Her current project portfolio includes the Animal Alternatives in Environmental Risk Assessment Committee and the Development of Methods for a Tiered Approach to Assess Bioaccumulation of Chemicals Committee, two of HESI’s projects aimed at improving ecological risk assessment. Dr. Embry’s work also includes the Risk Assessment in the 21st Century (RISK21) Committee, which developed a scientific, transparent, and efficient approach for human health risk assessment, including a web-based tool that has led to outreach and training activities on risk assessment approaches worldwide. In addition, she works with HESI staff and partners on project development related to chemical risk assessment issues.
Dr. Embry is an elected member of the SETAC North America Board of Directors (2014 to present), chair of the SETAC Global Partners Advisory Committee, and a member of the SETAC Bioaccumulation and Animal Alternatives Advisory Group Steering Teams. She is a full member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) and a member of the SOT Risk Assessment and Mixtures Specialty Sections. She was a member of the ECETOC Task Force on Information to be Considered in a Weight-of-Evidence-Based PBT/vPvB Assessment of Chemicals (Annex XIII of REACH) in 2013 to 2014 and was a steering team member of the SETAC Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Pellston Workshop (Spring 2017). Dr. Embry is also one of the founding partners on the “eco data hub” initiative, started in Fall 2016.
Connie Mitchell is a Senior Scientific Program Manager at HESI. Prior to joining HESI in early 2020, she was an ORISE Fellow at the US Environmental Protection Agency working on chemical prioritization under the Toxic Substances Control Act. She completed her graduate studies in Environmental Toxicology at the University of California Riverside. There she investigated flame retardant-induced developmental toxicity. As a Senior Scientific Program Manager, she provides scientific, strategic, and management support to collaborative scientific committees involving academic, government, nonprofit, and private sector scientists. She manages the Emerging Systems Toxicology for Assessment of Risk (eSTAR) Committee, Next Generation Ecological Risk Assessment Committee (Eco-Risk), and the Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC).
Senior Advisor, Center for Environmental and Ecological Health (CEEH)
sdeglin@hesiglobal.orgSandrine Deglin joined HESI in 2018 as a Scientific Program Manager. Prior to joining HESI, she worked with the Environmental Public Health Program at the State of Alaska Division of Public Health for four years, where she managed the program for nearly two years. Prior to that time, Dr. Deglin spent seven years as a consultant in the Toxicology and Mechanistic Biology Group of Exponent, Inc.
Dr. Deglin holds a PhD in Applied Chemistry and an MS in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. While studying in France, she also received a MS in Chemistry and a postgraduate degree in Public Health. Dr. Deglin is interested in all aspects of environmental health, including chemical fate and transport, toxicology, epidemiology, risk assessment, food safety and food security, and risk communication. She is currently involved in the HESI Bioaccumulation, Environmental Epidemiology, RISK21, UVCB, and Transforming the Evaluation of Agrochemicals (TEA) Committees.
Dr. Julie Krzykwa holds a PhD in Biology from Texas Christian University under the guidance of long-time HESI collaborator and advocate, Dr. Marlo Jeffries. Dr. Krzykwa’s dissertation research on fish embryo acute toxicity test (OECD 236) was awarded a SETAC/Procter & Gamble Fellowship for Doctoral Research in Environmental Science and received a STARS and Ida M. Green Fellowship awards from TCU. She brings post-graduate experience as a contractor to the USEPA working on aquatic toxicity testing methods and as Study Director (ecotox) for Smithers contract laboratory. Dr. Krzykwa will work on the Next Generation EcoRisk Project, UVCB Committee, and the Botanical Safety Consortium.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2023
A new critical review by Mitchell et al., published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, examines the potential for expanding the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in endocrine activity testing and assessment.
Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2022
A literature review of bioaccumulation and biotransformation of organic chemicals in birds was undertaken, aiming to support scoping and prioritization of future research. The objectives were to characterize available bioaccumulation/ biotransformation data, identify knowledge gaps, determine how extant data can be ...
Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2022
The Amphibian Metamorphosis Assay (AMA) is used to identify substances that potentially interfere with the normal function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. The current investigation reviewed 51 AMA experiments conducted at 7 different laboratories in Europe and North America. Diagnostic approaches to ...
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2021
Many regulations are beginning to explicitly require investigation of a chemical's endocrine disrupting properties as a part of the safety assessment process, for substances already on or about to be placed on the market. Different jurisdictions are applying distinct approaches. However, all share a common theme requiring ...
Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2021
Derivation of Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNECs) for aquatic systems is the primary deterministic form of hazard extrapolation used in environmental risk assessment. Depending on the data availability, different regulatory jurisdictions apply application factors (AFs) to the most sensitive measured endpoint to ...
Frontiers in Toxicology, 2021
The ecological threshold of toxicological concern (ecoTTC) is analogous to traditional human health-based TTCs but with derivation and application to ecological species. An ecoTTC is computed from the probability distribution of predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) derived from either chronic or extrapolated acute ...
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