Health And Environmental Sciences Institute

THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE (HESI) IS A NONPROFIT INSTITUTION WHOSE MISSION IS TO ENGAGE SCIENTISTS FROM ACADEMIA, GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY, NONPROFIT, AND OTHER RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS TO IDENTIFY AND RESOLVE GLOBAL HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.

CARDIAC SAFETY TECHNICAL COMMITTEE: THE MISSION OF THE CARDIAC SAFETY TECHNICAL COMMITTEE IS TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH BY REDUCING UNANTICIPATED CARDIOVASCULAR-RELATED ADVERSE EFFECTS FROM DRUGS OR CHEMICALS AND DEVELOP INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SUPPORT EARLY DETECTION AND PREDICTION AS WELL AS IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF CARDIOVASCULAR TOXICOLOGY AND PATHOBIOLOGY. IN 2021, THE COMMITTEE CONTINUED TO SPONSOR PROJECTS ADDRESSING CARDIOVASCULAR SAFETY TESTING, PUBLISHED TWO SCIENTIFIC MANUSCRIPTS IN PEER-REVIEWED TECHNICAL JOURNALS BASED ON THE COMMITTEE'S RESEARCH, AND PRESENTED 4 TIMES AT PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. AN ADDITIONAL 4 MANUSCRIPTS ARE IN PROGRESS. KEY PROJECTS INCLUDE A STUDY TO IDENTIFICATION OF BIOMARKERS OF BLEEDING DISORDERS, FINALIZED A MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPMENT TO EXPLORE CARDIAC FUNCTION AND SODIUM CHANNEL BLOCK, AND CONTINUED A NEW STUDY TO EXPLORE USE OF CARDIAC STEM CELLS TO PREDICT TOXICITY. AN ONGOING COLLABORATION WITH AN ACADEMIC INSTITUTION IN THE UK PROVIDED NOVEL ALGORITHMS TO INFORM THE ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC CONTRACTILITY, A MEASURE OF HEART FUNCTION. THE COMMITTEE ALSO CONTINUED THEIR SUPPORT OF TWO GRANTS AWARDED THROUGH FDA AND NIH IN SUPPORT OF A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK TO ENHANCE THE USE OF MECHANISTIC STUDIES TO PREDICT POTENTIAL CARDIAC RISKS FOR PHARMACEUTICALS. THE GRANTS INCLUDE SUBCONTRACTS AT SEVERAL LABORATORIES IN THE US AND EUROPE.

PROTEIN ALLERGENS, TOXINS AND BIOINFORMATICS (PATB) TECHNICAL COMMITTEE THE PATB COMMITTEE IS A PUBLIC-PRIVATE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM FOCUSED ON ADVANCING THE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELEVANT PARAMETERS DEFINING ALLERGENIC PROTEINS AND PROTEIN TOXINS, AND TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROBUST METHODOLOGIES FOR CHARACTERIZING THE ALLERGENIC POTENTIAL AND "TOXICITY" POTENTIAL OF NOVEL PROTEINS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS IN FOODS AND CROPS. TO ACHIEVE ITS MISSION, THE COMMITTEE ENGAGES IN THREE MAIN ACTIVITIES: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH. THE COMMITTEE'S EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH INCLUDES COLLABORATIONS WITH ACADEMIC CENTERS IN THE US AND IN EUROPE. IN 2021, TWO MULTI-YEAR EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTS WERE CONCLUDED: ONE FOCUSED ON EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF FOOD MATRICES IN DIGESTION AND THE POTENTIAL ALLERGENIC RISK OF PROTEINS THAT ARE CONSUMED IN FOODS (RESULTS PUBLISHED: AKKERDAAS ET AL. 2022 IN FRONTIERS IN ALLERGY); THE OTHER INVESTIGATED HOW THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE AND AMINO ACID SEQUENCE OF A PROTEIN IMPACTS ITS POTENTIAL TO ELICIT ALLERGENIC RESPONSES IN HUMANS (MANUSCRIPT IN PREPARATION). ANOTHER PROJECT RECEIVED THE GREEN LIGHT FROM THE LEADING INSTITUTION, COPENHAGEN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL AT GENTOFTE (COPENHAGEN, DENMARK) AND BEGAN WORK IN MID-2021. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO EXAMINE THE APPLICATION OF AN IN VITRO PROTOCOL FOR IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC T CELLS AND ANTIBODIES FROM NON-ALLERGIC AND ALLERGIC PATIENTS TO DIFFERENT PAIRS OF PROTEINS (ALLERGENS AND NON-ALLERGENS OR "WEAKLY-ALLERGENIC" PROTEINS). AS PART OF THE ASSESSMENT TOOLS DEVELOPMENTS ACTIVITIES, PATB COMMITTEE EXPERTS CONTINUED TO SUPPORT THE ANNUAL UPDATE OF THE COMPARE ALLERGEN DATABASE (CURRENTLY IN ITS 6TH VERSION, RELEASED ON 01/26/2022), A PUBLIC RESOURCE PROVIDING A COMPREHENSIVE REPOSITORY OF PROTEIN SEQUENCES OF KNOWN ALLERGENS AND A BIOINFORMATICS TOOL FOR PROTEIN SEQUENCES COMPARISONS. THE COMMITTEE ALSO PUBLISHED A SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN 2021 DESCRIBING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DATABASE AND ITS ANNUAL UPDATE PROCESS (VAN REE ET AL. 2021). IN TERMS OF INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH, THE COMMITTEE PRESENTED A TALK AT THE 28TH PLENARY MEETING OF OECD WORKING PARTY ON SAFETY OF NOVEL FOODS AND FEEDS (MARCH 2021, VIRTUAL). THE ANNUAL COMMITTEE BUSINESS MEETING WAS HELD REMOTELY ON MAY 5-6, 2021, DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. THE COMMITTEE ALSO FINALIZED ANOTHER MANUSCRIPT REPORTING ON THE OUTCOME OF THE 3-DAY VIRTUAL WORKSHOP HELD IN 2020, NOW PUBLISHED (BAUMAN ET AL. 2022).

GENETIC TOXICOLOGY TECHNICAL COMMITTEE (GTTC): THE MISSION OF THIS COMMITTEE IS TO IMPROVE THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF THE INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS FROM GENETIC TOXICOLOGY TESTS FOR PURPOSES OF MORE ACCURATE HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN RISK; TO DEVELOP FOLLOW-UP STRATEGIES FOR DETERMINING THE RELEVANCE OF TEST RESULTS TO HUMAN HEALTH; TO PROMOTE THE INTEGRATION AND USE OF NEW TECHNIQUES AND SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN THE EVALUATION OF GENETIC TOXICOLOGY; AND TO MONITOR AND PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE TESTS AND TESTING STRATEGIES. IN 2021, THE COMMITTEE CONTINUED TO SUPPORT 10 SEPARATE WORKING GROUPS AND THE RESPECTIVE SUBPROJECTS/TEAMS. THIS INCLUDED TRAINEES SUPPORT FOR TWO PROJECTS TO ASSIST WITH LITERATURE REVIEWS AND DATA ANALYSES. TWO NEW PROJECTS WERE LAUNCHED, INCLUDING ONE FOCUSED ON THE GENOTOXICITY RISK ASSESSMENT OF NITROSAMINES (CONTAMINANT IN PRODUCTS) AND THE SURVEYING AND ESTABLISHING BEST PRACTICES FOR HISTORICAL CONTROL DATA. A NEW EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH WORKING GROUP WAS ALSO LAUNCHED TOWARDS INCREASING ACADEMIC PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT OF TRAINEES THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARDS. TWO WORKING GROUPS HAVE ONGOING COLLABORATION AND RECOGNITION WITH INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (UN GHS AND OECD), ONE OF WHICH HAS CULMINATED IN THE APPROVAL OF A AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TEST GUIDELINE (INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE TESTING OF CHEMICALS). ONGOING AND COMPLETED WORK HAS BEEN PRESENTED AT OVER 10 PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. THE COMMITTEE PUBLISHED THREE SCIENTIFIC MANUSCRIPTS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS, AND ANOTHER 7 MANUSCRIPTS ARE IN PROGRESS.

BOTANICAL SAFETY CONSORTIUM, EMERGING ISSUES COMMITTEE, IMMUNOTOXICOLOGY COMMITTEE, DEVELOPMENT AND REPRODUCTIVE TOXICOLOGY COMMITTEE, THRIVE COMMITTEE, CT TRACS COMMITTEE, GENOMICS COMMITTEE, ANIMAL ALTERNATIVES IN ERA COMMITTEE, COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH, INNOVATION PRIZE, ENV EPI RA COMMITTEE, EI OTOTOX RA COMMITTEE, UVCB COMMITTEE, ACSA 2 COMMITTEE, RA 21ST CENTURY COMMITTEE, PB/PK, AND OTHERS.