Introduction - Update from FSA Fellow and PhD student

This is a paper for discussion. It does not represent the views of the Committee and should not be cited.

1. The FSA and COT have been reviewing New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to scope the best scientific methodologies available to be used in risk assessment of chemicals in foods and the environment, and to understand how these can be incorporated and accepted in a regulatory context.  

2. In 2021, the FSA started funding a 4-year computational toxicology postdoctoral fellow Dr Arthur de Carvalho e Silva at the University of Birmingham and a three-year PhD Student Mr Alexander Kalian (London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program-LIDo-TOX AI) at King’s College London.  

3. The fellow and PhD student have been working alongside other government departments to understand how NAMs will improve indicative levels of safety in chemical risk assessment.  

4. In addition, these new partnerships have helped with networking, research collaboration, training opportunities and furthering our knowledge in this area. The fellowship and studentship also compliment the work set out in the COT FSA UK NAMs Roadmap towards using new approach methodologies in chemical risk assessment.  

5. The Fellow and the PhD student have prepared a yearly review as outlined below and will present their progress to date to the COT Members.