Finnish Cultural Foundation Pirkanmaa Foundation awarded 2011 prof.emer. Hanna Tähti for her groundbreaking achievements in the development of alternative methods for animal experimentation. She has a long career in research in the field of toxicology, neurotoxicology and oculotoxicity as her special interest. She has acted as a board member in several scientific societies. The prize was 10 000 euros.

Hanna Tähti (right) and Tuula Heinonen at the Finnish Cultural Foundation award ceremony.
Photograph by Kimmo Torkkeli.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has appointed Tuula Heinonen, the Director of FICAM, as a contact person in the PARERE-network established by the EU Commission.

PARERE (the Preliminary Analysis of REgulatory RElevance) has been introduced by the Commission to improve the process of method development from the beginning of the validation process to the adoption of the method for regulatory purposes.

The new directive revising Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes was adopted in September 2010. In addition to formally establishing a Union Reference Laboratory for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM, European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods), the Directive calls for Member States to nominate suitable specialised and qualified laboratories to carry out validation studies, and at national level to ensure the promotion of alternative approaches and the dissemination of information thereon. Furthermore, the Directive requires Member States to nominate a single point of contact to provide advice on the regulatory relevance and suitability of alternative approaches proposed for validation. This contact point will form an essential link between EU and national regulatory bodies.

The new Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parlament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes has been published on 20 October 2010. The directive will enter in force 20 days after its publication. Deadline for transposition into national legislation is November 2012. The new Directive will take effect on 1 January 2013.The new Directive will play a significant role in minimising the number of animals used in experiments.

The text can be found at http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/10/st06/st06106.en10.pdf

FinPharmaNet – 4^th Annual Graduate School Joint Meeting: Transport and Transporters, 30-31.08.2010, FICAM, Medical school, University of Tampere. The program and registration information  will be given later this spring.

Annual meeting of the Finnish Society of Toxicology (STY) and FinCopa with the scientific symposiums will be organized at Helsinki Säätytalo 26-28.04.2010.   The ToxGS education event will be organized in the same meeting. The detailed programme will be seen on web pages of STY  (http://www.toksikologit.fi) and  FinCopa (http://www.uta.fi/jarjestot/fincopa/)

Tuula Heinonen has been appointed as the NCP delegate in the board of ecopa from 1^st January 2010.