Project title: Integration of Biological Responses and PBTK Modeling in Chemical Toxicity Assessment: А Case Study of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

Acronym: ToxIN

Funded by Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia – Program PRISMA

Project duration: 2023-2026

Principal investigator: dr Nebojša Andrić

Current chemical toxicity assessment relies on traditional animal studies and epidemiological data used by various regulatory bodies for legislative purposes; however, these data suffer from several drawbacks as adverse health effects in humans cannot be fully supported by animal studies, whereas epidemiological studies may be confounded by many different factors. Moreover, current toxicity assessment does not consider the specificity of different populations and therefore may not be protective enough for different disease groups, obese, and others. The ToxIN project will develop a probabilistic assessment of chemicals’ impact on human health by integrating a set of in vitro and in vivo biological assays coupled with PBTK modeling and test this approach using the “perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) case”. The outcome of this approach will be a new methodology and a new assessment score that will determine the tissue- and population-specific sensitivity to PFOA. This new approach will allow for better protection of the adult population and the sensitive groups to chemical exposure. The ToxIN project will make a significant impact by offering an innovative solution for screening a wide range of environmental chemicals with limited health toxicity information. It has the potential to provide novel scientific evidence that could be used to improve regulation regarding the safe levels of chemicals, which will, in the long run, reduce human exposure and the incidence of chemical exposure-related illnesses, thus reducing the healthcare cost and positively affecting the economy. ToxIN will assemble an interdisciplinary research team consisting of biologists (toxicologists) and pharmacists, thus enabling networking, collaboration, and sharing between the disciplines and strengthening the professional competences of the researchers involved in the project.