To help achieve our mission, we rely on first-class, independent expert advice from scientists working in a large spectrum of scientific disciplines. These range from life, biomedical and environmental sciences, test method development and optimisation, to statistics and computational modelling approaches.
In addition, we rely on the opinion of stakeholders and regulatory scientists on many aspects of potential test methods including their relevance, usability and cost. This forms an important part of the prioritisation process we use in the validation of test methods and ensures that they do actually serve end users' needs.
To guarantee a separation of scientific advice and stakeholder opinion, and for reasons of transparency, we have set up a number of advisory and consultation bodies.
EURL ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC)
The role of the ESAC is to independently assess the scientific quality of test method validation studies that we conduct. It also independently assesses the scientific quality of any studies that a stakeholder may have submitted for assessment by us. ESAC is also responsible for providing peer review at various stages of test method validation.
Find out more about ESAC here.
EURL ECVAM Network for Preliminary Assessment of Regulatory Relevance (PARERE)
PARERE is a network of national and European-level regulators that convenes regularly to provide upstream input and preliminary views on potential regulatory relevance of methods submitted to EURL ECVAM for validation.
Find out more about PARERE here.
International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM)
ICATM is an international cooperation between a number of partners (including EURL ECVAM) from governmental organisations in the EU, US, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Brazil and China. ICATM partners are working together to promote enhanced international cooperation and coordination on the scientific development, validation and regulatory use of alternative approaches.
Find out more about this cooperation here.