Courses RA-COURSES organises the following courses and provides funding for travel, subsistence and course fee for PhD students and post docs:   1. Receptor-mediated toxicity. Accomplished.     2. Health risk assessment I: Principles and applications. Accomplished.   3. Regulatory toxicology. Accomplished.   4. Reproductive and developmental toxicology. Accomplished.   5. Child health and the environment. Accomplished.   6. Philosophy of risk in health risk assessment. Now open for application.   7. Exposure Assessment I: Chemical exposure assessment analysis and modelling Now open for application.   8. Health risk assessment II: Focus on risk assessment based on cancer, developmental neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption as the critical end-points.   9. Exposure assessment II: Focus on residue and consumption databases and probabilistic modelling.   10. Statistics for toxicologists with focus on dose response modelling.     1. Receptor-mediated toxicity October 22-26, 2007 Stockholm, Sweden   The course was organised by RA-COURSES in collaboration with CASCADE Network of Excellence and the Postgraduate programme in Environmental Factors and Health at Karolinska Institutet.        Course participants and teachers at the course in Receptor-mediated toxicity.     The objective of the course was to provide state-of-the-art knowledge of toxicological mechanisms mediated by hormone receptors and endocrine signalling pathways.   The course included the following topics: Molecular mechanisms of hormone receptor signalling, Signalling pathways targeted by endocrine disrupting chemicals, Emerging techniques to identify and screen for endocrine disrupters and Risk assessment of endocrine disruptors.   The course consisted of lectures, group work, methods workshop and project work.   The intended learning outcome was understanding of molecular mechanisms of endocrine disruption and its implications for risk assessment as well as new methodological tools for own research in the topic.   The course programme is available here.   A report from the course is available here.    Teachers: Patrick Balaguer, INSERM, Montpellier, France Maria Bondesson, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Antonio Chana, Mario Negri Institute, Milano, Italy Tomas Ekström, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Lars-Arne Haldosén, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Annika Hanberg, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Matti Poutanen, University of Turku, Turku, Finland Agneta Rannug, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden   Course organiser: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.   Course committee: Johanna Zilliacus, Agneta Rannug and Helen Håkansson, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and Patrik Andersson, Umeå University, Sweden.   Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   2. Health risk assessment I: Principles and applications April 14-18, 2008  Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden   The course was organised by RA-COURSES in collaboration with CASCADE Network of Excellence and the Postgraduate programme in Environmental Factors and Health at Karolinska Institutet.       Course participants and teachers at the course in Health risk assessment I: Principles and Applications.      The objective of the course was to provide knowledge and understanding of the methods and principles used in health risk assessment and to familiarize participants with the general procedures used in health risk assessments.   The course included the following topics: fundamental concepts in toxicology and risk assessment, epidemiology, exposure assessment; risk assessment in regulatory decision-making, critical effects, extrapolation, uncertainty factors and allocation of health-based guidance values; interpretation possibilities and evaluation of data from different test systems, handling of uncertainties and data gaps, and other problems in health risk assessment. The course consisted of lectures and group work.  The intended learning outcome was that the student shall have acquired knowledge and understanding of the methods and procedures used in health risk assessment. The student shall also have aquired a professional attitude in interpretation of toxicological and epidemiological studies for use in health risk assessment. The course programme is available here.   A report from the course is available here.   Teachers: Marika Berglund, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Anna Bergström, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Daniel Borg, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Bert Ove Lund, Swedish Chemicals Agency, Sweden Annika Hanberg, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Claudia Heppner, European Food Safety Authority Helen Håkansson, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Gunnar Johanson, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Torbjörn Malmfors, Malmfors Consulting, Sweden Göran Pershagen, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Agneta Rannug, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Christina Rudén, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Katarina Victorin, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Lars Wiklund, RegSafe, Sweden Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Agneta Åkesson, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Mattias Öberg, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden   Course organiser: Annika Hanberg, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Course committee: Annika Hanberg, Mattias Öberg and Marika Berglund, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Patrik Andersson and Karin Wiberg, Umeå University, Sweden, Kirsi Vähäkangas, University of Kuopio, Finland and Chris Talsness, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se Top of this page   3. Regulatory toxicology August 25-29, 2008 Kuopio, Finland   The course was organised by RA-COURSES in collaboration with CASCADE Network of Excellence and the Finnish Graduate School in Toxicology.        Course participants and teachers at the course in Regulatory toxicology.    The objective of the course was to provide up-to-date information of the international, European and national regulatory processes concerning chemical risk assessment in humans.   The course included the following topics: Introduction to risk assessment, international, European and national regulatory organisations for chemicals and medicinal drugs, different categories of regulated chemicals, EU chemicals legislation-REACH, regulatory processes for food safety, occupational safety and environmental pollution, as well as alternative non-animal tests in regulatory processes.  Also, development of new in vitro methods and new emerging fields (nanotoxicology) were discussed from the regulatory perspective. The course consisted of lectures, panel discussion, computer exercises, group work and seminars by students. The intended learning outcome was understanding of the regulatory processes and organisations in chemical risk assessment, knowledge of test-guidelines, GLP requirements and methodology development as well as direct personal contacts with senior scientists within regulatory toxicology and risk assessment. The course programme is available here.   A report from the course is available here.   Teachers: Stefano Bonassi, Pisa University, Italy Heidi Foth, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle, Germany Ursula Gundert Remy, Charité Berlin, Germany Helen Håkansson, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Peter Kasper, Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, Germany Pekka Kurki, National Agency for Medicines, Finland Kimmo Louekari, ECHA Markku Pasanen, University of Kuopio, Finland Olavi Pelkonen, University of Oulu, Finland Raimo Pohjanvirta, National Public Health Institute, Finland Hannu Raunio, University of Kuopio, Finland Kai Savolainen, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland Beatriz SilvaLima, University of Lisbon, Portugal Hanna Tähti, Univerity of Tampere, Finland Harri Vainio, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland Kirsi Vähäkangas, University of Kuopio, Finland   Course organiser: Kirsi Vähäkangas, University of Kuopio, Finland. Course committee: Kirsi Vähäkangas, Markku Pasanen, Jarkko Loikkanen, University of Kuopio, Finland, Helen Håkansson, Annika Hanberg, Mattias Öberg, Christina Rudén, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, Patrik Andersson, Umeå University, Sweden, Ibrahim Chahoud, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   4. Reproductive and developmental toxicology November 3-7, 2008 Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany   The course was organised by RA-COURSES in collaboration with CASCADE Network of Excellence.       Course participants and teachers at the course in Reproductive and developmental toxicology.    The objective of the course was to 1) Provide an overview of basic aspects of embryology, female and male reproductive systems and regulatory toxicology, 2) Discuss experimental evaluation of the reproductive systems and interpretation of possible results and present some of the OECD guidelines, 3) Give an overview of virtual and in vitro methods and teratological studies to evaluate developmental toxicity and 4) Provide the participants with practical demonstrations regarding some of the methods employed.   The course included the following topics: Introduction to risk assessment, Basics of reproductive toxicology, Embryology, Molecular embryology, Computational embryology, Male and female reproductive systems, Spermatogenesis and oogenesis, Practical aspects of mating of laboratory animals, Maternal and fetal metabolism and kinetics of xenobiotics, Maternal toxicity, Evaluation of female and male fertility, Endocrine active compounds, Assays for screening of endocrine disruptors: uterotrophic and Hershberger assays, Assays for the evaluation of juvenile reproductive systems and for neurotoxicity, In vitro methods for evaluate developmental toxicology, Statistical analysis of developmental toxic effects, Legal requirements for evaluation of reproductive toxic effects of pesticides and medical products.   The course consisted of lectures, discussions, group work, video presentations, practical demonstrations and a round table discussion.   The intended learning outcome was to understand and interpret experimental data in terms of their biological significance for risk assessment.   The course programme is available here.   A report from the course is available here.   Teachers: Rolf Bass, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Ibrahim Chahoud, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Burkhard Flink, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Konstanze Grote, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Tom Knudsen, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USA Reinhard Meister, Technische Fachhochschule Berlin, Germany Guiseppa Pennetta, University of Edinburgh, UK Rudolph Pfeil, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, Germany Mehdi Shakibaei, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Ellen Silbergeld, Johns Hopkins University, USA Ralf Stahlmann, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Roland Solecki, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, Germany Chris Talsness, Charité Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden   Course organisers: Ibrahim Chahoud, Konstanze Grote and Chris Talsness, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.   Course committee: Ibrahim Chahoud, Konstanze Grote and Chris Talsness, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, Helen Håkansson, Annika Hanberg and Agneta Rannug, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Kirsi Vähäkangas and Markku Pasanen, University of Kuopio, Finland Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   5. Child health and the environment March 23-27, 2009 Stockholm, Sweden   The course was organised by RA-COURSES in collaboration with the Postgraduate programme in Environmental Factors and Health at Karolinska Institutet and CASCADE Network of Excellence. Course participants and teachers at the course in Child health and the environment. The objective of the course was to provide state-of-the-art knowledge about the environmental threats to child health in Europe in the context of health risk assessment. Overarching themes were be the specific susceptibility and exposure of the developing foetus, infant and child to environmental toxicants and the importance of modifying factors, e.g. nutrition and genetics.   The course included specific environmental areas of high concern for child health in Europe with focus on risk assessment of environmental factors. The following aspects were covered: Basic child health, nutrition and breast feeding, child development and maturation, exposure during childhood, asthma and allergy, organic and metal pollutants, endocrine disrupting chemicals, air quality, noise, electromagnetic fields and environmental burden of disease. The course consisted of lectures, discussions, presentations of participants’ research projects and group work. The intended learning outcome was the student should acquire knowledge and understanding of the specific susceptibility and exposure of the developing foetus, infant and child to environmental factors and the importance of modifying factors. The student should also acquire a professional attitude in interpretation of toxicological and epidemiological studies related to child health for use in health risk assessment. The course programme is available here. A report from the course is available here. Teachers: Anders Ahlbom, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Tobias Alfvén, Sachsska childrens hospital, Sweden Tom Bellander, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Marika Berglund, Institute of Environmental medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Anders Ekbom, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Anita Gidlöf Gunnarsson, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Sweden Olle Söder, Department of Woman and Child Health, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Chris Talsness, Department of Toxicology, Charite Universitatsmedizin, Berlin, Germany Marie Vahter, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Magnus Wickman, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Agneta Yngve, Department of biosciences and nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Johanna Zilliacus, Department of biosciences and nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Mattias Öberg, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Sweden Course organiser: Mattias Öberg, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Course committee: Annika Hanberg, Helen Håkansson, Agneta Rannug and Mattias Öberg, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Karin Wiberg, Umeå University, Sweden; Markku Pasanen, Jarkko Loikkanen, University of Kuopio, Finland and Ibrahim Chahoud, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   6. Philosophy of Risk in Health Risk Assessment   Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden October 12-16, 2009 The objective of the course is to provide an overview of important aspects of interactions between science and policy in health risk assessment with a focus on strategies to handle scientific uncertainty. The course will include lectures, exercises and discussions that will highlight the interplay between science and policy in health risk assessment. This includes basic and applied concepts in theory of science (how can toxicological knowledge be generated?), decision theory (decision-making under uncertainty; how cautious is cautious enough?), ethics (theories about the distribution of risks and benefits), risk-benefit analysis (what is the value of a human life?), as well as principles and methods for risk communication (how are different risks perceived?). Case studies will be used to exemplify different approaches to uncertainty. The course consists of lectures, discussions, exercises and group work. The result of the group assignment will be presented orally and discussed. The intended learning outcome is a better understanding of interactions between science and policy in the risk assessment process, knowledge in how science is used for decision-making, and increased experience in strategies to handle scientific uncertainty in health risk assessment as well as skills in risk communication. The course brochure is available here. The course announcement is available here. The draft course programme is available here. The course is intended for PhD students, post docs, senior scientists and other professionals. Thirty places are available, 20 for PhD students, 5 for post docs and 5 for senior scientists and other professionals. The selection of participants is made based on 1) Relevance of field of research or work for the training course assessed based on applicants description of their research project or area of work, 2) Aptitude to carry out training assessed based on previous training as described in the CV, 3) Impact and benefit of training to career assessed based on motivation letter. A balance between nationalities of the participants will also be taken into account. Course fee is 150 euro and will include course material, lunches, coffee breaks and social programme. Course fee for participants from industry is 500 euro. Payment details will be supplied to accepted participants later. RA-COURSES will offer funding for travel, subsistence and course fee for 20 PhD students and 5 post docs. Detailed information on the eligibility rules for the support is available here. Deadline for application to the course is August 14, 2009. The application form is available here. Course organiser: Christina Rudén, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Course committee: Christina Rudén, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, Annika Hanberg, Mattias Öberg, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Kirsi Vähäkangas, University of Kuopio, Finland Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se Top of this page   7. Exposure Assessment I: Chemical exposure assessment analysis and modelling November 16-20, 2009 Umeå, Sweden   The objective of the course is is to give an introduction into the field of exposure assessment with specific focus on chemical analysis and various modelling techniques. The course will include the following topics: Environmental pollutants, analytical chemistry, and strategies for sampling, modelling and interpretation of data. Quality issues will also be covered related to environmental concentrations data and exposure assessment processes as an integrated part of risk assessment protocols. The course consists of lectures, demonstrations of chemical analyses and a group work in form of a mini-case study where the participants will be given opportunities to take lead in the first steps of an exposure assessment. The mini-case study will e.g. include issues of sampling strategies, designing an exposure assessment and ordering of analytical chemistry data. The intended learning outcome is to reach an understanding of exposure assessment procedures and fundamental environmental analytical chemistry to be able to examine quality of analytical data and understand modelling techniques as a complementary tool to the use of data of environmental and human levels. The course brochure is available here. The course announcement is available here. The draft course programme is available here. The course is intended for PhD students, post docs, senior scientists and other professionals. Thirty places are available, 20 for PhD students, 5 for post docs and 5 for senior scientists and other professionals. The selection of participants is made based on 1) Relevance of field of research or work for the training course assessed based on applicants description of their research project or area of work, 2) Aptitude to carry out training assessed based on previous training as described in the CV, 3) Impact and benefit of training to career assessed based on motivation letter. A balance between nationalities of the participants will also be taken into account. Course fee is 150 euro and will include course material, lunches, coffee breaks and social programme. Course fee for participants from industry is 500 euro. Payment details will be supplied to accepted participants later. RA-COURSES will offer funding for travel, subsistence and course fee for 20 PhD students and 5 post docs. Detailed information on the eligibility rules for the support is available here. Deadline for application to the course is September 18, 2009. The application form is available here. Course organiser: Patrik Andersson and Karin Wiberg, Umeå University, Sweden. Course committee: Patrik Andersson and Karin Wiberg, Umeå University, Sweden, Annika Hanberg and Mattias Öberg, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Chris Talsness, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, Polly Boon, RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety, Netherlands. Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   8. Health risk assessment II: Focus on risk assessment based on cancer, developmental neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption as the critical end-points Spring 2010 Stockholm, Sweden   The objective of the course is to provide knowledge and understanding of the methods used, and to specific problematic issues related to health risk assessment of cancer, developmental neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption.    The course will focus on cancer, developmental neurotoxicity and effects of endocrine disruption as important critical health effects of chemicals and environmental pollutants.   The course will include fundamental concepts in health risk assessment, epidemiology, and will also cover risk assessment in regulatory decision-making. Furthermore, attention will be paid to interpretation possibilities and evaluation of data from toxicology and epidemiology, dose-response assessment, interspecies and interindividual variation in sensitivity, low-dose extrapolation, and other critical issues in health risk assessment.   The course consists of lectures as well as group activities.   The intended learning outcome is to get a deeper insight in health risk assessment of chemicals causing cancer, developmental neurotoxicity and effects of endocrine disruption, how it is performed, interpretation of data, limitations of methods used and uncertainties.   More information and registration details will be provided here later.   Course organiser: Annika Hanberg, Karolinska , Sweden   Course committee: Helen Håkansson, Johanna Zilliacus and Annika Hanberg, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Kirsi Vähäkangas and Jarkko Loikkanen, University of Kuopio, Finland, Ibrahim Chahoud and Konstanze Grote, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Polly Boon, RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety, Netherlands    Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   9. Exposure assessment II: Focus on residue and consumption databases and probabilistic modelling Autumn 2010 Wageningen, Netherlands   The objective of the course is to familiarize participants with dietary exposure assessment to toxic compounds and in particular with probabilistic modelling of dietary exposure.   The course will include different items connected with dietary exposure assessment. These include among others: Importance of exposure modelling in risk assessment, Models to integrate chemical levels and food consumption data to assess dietary exposure assessments (e.g. point estimate / deterministic approach / probabilistic approach, characteristics different approaches, acute vs. chronic exposure, which method most appropriate for which situation, data availability, recipe databases, databases to convert food as eaten into raw agricultural products), Probabilistic modelling in particular: using the software programme @RISK participants will be taught the basic principles of probabilistic modelling using simple examples, Levels of toxic chemicals in food (e.g. pesticides, mycotoxins, dioxins, acrylamide), sampling, analytical aspects, processing, level of analysis (foods, agricultural products), intertwined with exercises in @RISK, Food consumption data in exposure assessment (sources of food consumption data, which data most appropriate, availability of data within Europe and comparability, methodological aspects), intertwined with exercises in @RISK, Performance of more complex examples of probabilistic modelling using the MCRA (Monte Carlo Risk Assessment) programme, including sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, Refinement of exposure modelling: processing effects, variability (when addressing the acute exposure to pesticides), levels assigned to samples with levels below the limit of detection, Pan-European modelling of exposure, Further developments in modelling of exposure: integration with effect modelling, risk – benefit modelling, exposure to more than one compound (risk-benefit, cumulative exposure).   The course consists of lectures and computer exercises to be performed in groups of two participants.   The intended learning outcome is knowledge of exposure modelling and probabilistic modelling in particular, and how this is organised at the international level related to the evaluation/assessment of toxic compounds.   More information and registration details will be provided here later.   Course organisers: Polly Boon and Jacob van Klaveren, RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety, Netherlands.   Course committee: Polly Boon and Jacob van Klaveren, RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety, Netherlands, Mattias Öberg and Marika Berglund, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Patrik Andersson and Karin Wiberg, Umeå University, Sweden    Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se   Top of this page   10. Statistics for toxicologists with focus on dose response modelling Spring 2011 Stockholm, Sweden   The objective of the course is to provide knowledge on dose response modelling in toxicology, including benchmark dose analysis, for risk assessment of chemicals.   The course will include the following topics. Regression analysis, Dose-response modelling of continuous and discrete data, The benchmark dose method and traditional NOAEL approach in risk assessment, Calculation of relative potencies and Calculation of sensitivity differences between populations.   The course consists of lectures and computer exercises.   The intended learning outcome is to get experience of the use of dose response modelling in toxicology and to understand the possibilities and the difference of such procedures compared to the traditional NOAEL approach.   More information and registration details will be provided here later.   Course organisers: Wout Slob, RIVM, Netherlands and Salomon Sand, Karolinska Institutet, Netherlands.   Course committee: Wout Slob, RIVM, Netherlands, Helen Håkansson, Mattias Öberg and Salomon Sand, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Patrik Andersson, Umeå University, Sweden, Kirsi Vähäkangas, University of Kuopio, Finland, Polly Boon, RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety, Netherlands    Contact person: Johanna Zilliacus, Karolinska Institutet, E-mail: johanna.zilliacus@ki.se Top of this page	RA-COURSES is financed by the European Union  Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses Contract number MSCF-CT-2006-045972   Marie Curie Actions website       Link to related EU-project:         CASCADE Network of Excellence Chemicals as contaminants in the food chain: a Network of  Excellence for research, risk assessment and education