ELIXIR and Toxicology: a community in development.

Area of Science:

• Toxicology
• Computational Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Risk Assessment

Background:

• Toxicology research traditionally relies on observational models but is evolving with omics and computational approaches.
• The increasing development of engineered materials necessitates early predictive evaluations for scientific and regulatory purposes.
• ELIXIR, a European life science infrastructure organization, seeks to coordinate diverse research efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose the establishment of a new ELIXIR Community focused on modern predictive toxicology.
• To outline a roadmap and identify high-gain collaborations for this new community.
• To define the vision for the ELIXIR Toxicology Community and its integration with existing ELIXIR activities.

Main Methods:

• Review of past collaborative efforts between existing toxicology projects (e.g., EU-ToxRisk, diXa) and ELIXIR platforms (e.g., TeSS, Bioschemas).
• Development of a proposal for the ELIXIR Toxicology Community based on initial discussions.
• Conducting a workshop to refine the community roadmap and prioritize collaborations.

Main Results:

• A Whitepaper detailing the outcomes of collaborative efforts and the proposed vision for the ELIXIR Toxicology Community.
• An established roadmap for the ELIXIR Toxicology Community.
• A shortlist of prioritized, high-impact collaborations to foster community growth.

Conclusions:

• The ELIXIR Toxicology Community is instrumental in linking European life science resources for predictive toxicology.
• This community will enhance predictive capabilities in toxicology, supporting chemical risk assessment and regulatory science.
• The proposed structure and roadmap will guide the community's development and integration within the broader ELIXIR framework.