Course
"Making sense out of (bio)analytical data in chemical mixture assessment"
Registration has been closed for the course taking place in September 2023. Please come back in early 2024 for the next edition of this course.
This course is designed to introduce the fundamentals of in vitro assays.
It is a self-paced online course consisting of 4 modules and one introduction meeting. Each module focuses on a different aspect of in vitro assays.
Module 1 provides basic knowledge for cell-based bioassays.
Module 2 deals with mixtures and environmental applications of in vitro bioassays.
Module 3 high-lights the importance of quality control and quality assurance of bioassays – after all: Your results are only as good as your methods.
Module 4 covers applications of in vitro assays for the risk assessment of chemicals.
The course can be taken as a 1 to 4 day course – if you do not wish to take the entire course, you can specify this in your registration.
1 day: module 1
2 days: modules 1 & 2
3 days: modules 1 & 2 & 3 or 1 & 2 & 4
4 days: modules 1 & 2 & 3 & 4
The course is based on the book "Bioanalytical Tools in Water Quality Assessment" which you can access by clicking on the link.
Each of the modules consists of some required reading, some recommended reading, exercises and an online session for discussions. In the table below you find these details for each module.
| Module |
Book chapter (re- quired) |
Addi- tional chapters (not re- quired) |
video available at website |
Exer- cises |
Discussion AEST |
meetings CEST |
on Zoom CST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Basic knowledge for cell-based bioassays | Monday | 4th September | 2023 | ||||
|
I) Introduction to cell-based bioassays II) Principles of cell based bioassays III) Concentration-response modelling |
1 10 7 |
4, 5, 6 |
Unit 1.mp4 Unit 10.mp4 Unit 7.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 1 Q&A chap. 10 Q&A chap. 7 |
|||
| 2. Mixtures and environmental applications of in vitro bioassays | Monday | 11th September | 2023 | ||||
|
I) Mixtures II) Design of test batteries and interpretation of bioassay results |
8 13 |
14 |
Unit 8.mp4 Unit 13.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 8 Q&A chap. 13 |
|||
| 3. Your results are only as good as your methods | Monday | 18th September | 2023 | ||||
|
I) Quality control/quality assurance of bioassays II) Sampling and dosing |
11 12 |
15 |
Unit11.mp4 Unit12.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 11 Q&A chap. 12 |
|||
| 4. Application of in vitro assays for the risk assessment of chemicals | Monday | 25th September | 2023 | ||||
|
I) Risk assessment of chemicals II) Water Quality Assessment and whole effluent toxicity testing III) In vitro assays in risk assessment |
2 3 9 |
16 |
Unit2.mp4 Unit3.mp4 Unit9.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 2 Q&A chap. 3 Q&A chap. 9 |
The exercises for each chapter can be found on this website on the corresponding chapter pages. For some chapters there is also a presentations and/or a video available which can also be found on those pages.
The course is held by Prof. Beate Escher, Dr. Peta Neale and Prof. Frederic Leusch, the authors of the book "Bioanalytical Tools in Water Quality Assessment". Prof. Escher presently teaches at the University of Tübingen and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in the areas of environmental chemistry, toxicology and risk assessment, which are also her research area. Dr. Neale is a specialist in water quality assessment. Prof. Leusch is Professor in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University. His current research focuses on occurrence, fate and toxicity of contaminants of emerging concern (such as micropollutants and microplastics) and the development of effect-based methods for water quality assessment.
To register for the course, please send an email to bioanalytical-tools@ufz.de . You will then be given the access code for the discussion meetings on zoom.
After this course, participants have a basic understanding of the fundamentals and the underlying principles of in vitro assays and their application in environmental monitoring.