Conference Reports

Nirmala Bhogal

Alternatives to the Use of Transgenic Animals

A three-day workshop was organised by ZEBET, the animal welfare arm of the State-established centre for risk assessment, BfR, in Berlin, Germany, on 18–20 May, 2009.

Nanotechnology: Should We Be Worried?

A briefing at the House of Commons took place on 7 July 2009, to consider whether nanotechnologies that are infiltrating a number of industrial areas, present unique health concerns. A number of stakeholders attended, including Nirmala Bhogal from FRAME.

PharmSciFair: A Platform for Advancing Pharmaceutical Sciences

The second PharmSciFair took place in Nice, France, on 8–12 June 2009. Dr Nirmala Bhogal was invited to attend this meeting, to share her perspectives on animal testing and whether existing approaches are suited to the evaluation of nanomaterials.

Genomics Tools: From Research and Development to the Clinic

In June 2009, the Cambridge Healthtech Institute held a summit at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA, USA, with the aim of examining the current and future roles of genomics and related ‘omics’ technologies in drug development. I was invited to speak about the role of new technologies in the development of new medicines, and to discuss the role which omics-based technologies are beginning to play in the prediction of long-term and repeated dose drug toxicity.