CASCADE celebrates success

 

Our main focus has been to reshape the research environment in Europe. We have done this by introducing new ways of conducting and relating to research both within and beyond the research community. By mobilizing several hundred European scientists and enable knowledge sharing and exchange of human capital we have opened doors for collaboration and cooperation. Our collaborative approach to research has made us a key player within research in endocrine disruptive chemicals in food.

 

We provide the European public with serious advice based on our findings about human health risks related to chemicals in food items. Most recently, we screened baby food and bread for chemical contaminants. But we have also influenced legislation on chemicals to ensure that European consumers are protected against dangerous chemical contaminants in foodstuff.

 

A few weeks ago we submitted our final report to the European Commission (EC). The report covers our achievements throughout the past five years, during which the EC has funded our work.

 

Shared scientific vision - we draw on multiple disciplines and methods in our research. And we combine a number of scientific disciplines in development of models to analyze hormone disrupting effects of chemicals in food.  A multidisciplinary approach makes our research results robust and reliable.

Research with a societal focus - we investigate common food items that consumers use on a regular basis, such as bread.  Another example is that we have also compared the calorific content in baby-food with guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of UN and the World Health Organization. 

Collaboration within the research community e.g. through researcher exchange programmes and shared knowledge tools.

Collaboration with industry and other research organizations such as In Vitro Testing Industrial Platform (IVTIP) and European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA).

Reaching out to the public by organizing regular events and meetings such as a yearly open forum and lunch debates.

Upskilling and boosting of scientists capacities by offering courses on topics such as risk assessment, media training and ethics in science.

Excellent program management - we are a well managed network and know how to coordinate research groups efficiently and help partners with administrative tasks.

Relations to the media - we know how to communicate to media and we ensure that our researchers know how to do it too. This makes us a sociable network that strives to ensure that the right research results reach the public in the right way.