Toxicology - Period 2 STEM in Amsterdam Program Fall 2023 Semester - Amsterdam

This course addresses exposure, effects, and risk assessment of toxic chemicals. In the exposure part, we will mainly focus on routes of exposure, on human biomonitoring, and on toxicokinetics. We will discuss toxic effects at different levels of biological organization ranging from the molecular initiating event (MIE) via key events (KE) at cellular and organ levels to the adverse outcome (AO) at population level, in line with the framework of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs). Different levels of toxicity testing will be covered ranging from in silico and in vitro studies to in vivo animal studies and epidemiological studies. Special attention will be given to mixture toxicity and to the position of omics-techniques in unraveling the adverse outcome pathways. Following this set-up, different compounds will be studied, including pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting chemicals, neurotoxicological compounds like pesticides, mutagenic compounds, metals, and industrial chemicals. Finally, the course will address how quantitative toxicity data are used in risk assessment procedures to derive threshold doses for toxic compounds to which we are exposed through different routes of exposure (food, drinking water, air, soil, house dust, consumer goods, working place, etc.).

All subjects above will be taught in lectures, and some will be further elaborated in working groups. In addition, a chemical compound will be assigned to each student during the course. Students will test their compound in a practical for its capacity to start a molecular initiating event and/or cause an adverse outcome. Based on information about this MIE and the AO and what is described about the toxicity of the compound in the literature, the students will write an AOP-based summary about the toxicity of their compound in the form of a Wikipedia page.

Course includes lab/practical component.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.