The consortium has been funded to map
and provide quantitative dose-response models for selected pathways of
toxicity. Its goal is to establish a public data resource to share the results
of new testing strategies for assessing human health risks.
The project is initially focusing on
endocrine disruption pathways as a first step toward mapping the complete human
toxome. This effort will, in turn, improve accuracy, while lowering costs and
reducing the time needed to predict the toxicity of new compounds.
Agilent will develop and contribute to
the consortium new strategies for data management as well as software for data
analysis and visualization. This software will be built using Agilent's GeneSpring multi-omics analysis platform. In
addition, much of the data will be collected using Agilent microarrays and mass spectrometers.
Gustavo Salem, vice president and
general manager of Agilent's Biological Systems Division, said, "The NIH
award to the consortium underscores the importance of major stakeholders
working together to create this community resource and ultimately to advance
toxicity testing. Agilent is committed to this vision. Our expertise in
bioinformatics software and bioanalytical platforms will provide the tools for
the consortium to collect, organize, share and analyze the generated data in
conjunction with established databases of biochemical and toxicological
knowledge."
The consortium is led by Dr. Thomas Hartung, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing. Agilent's lead investigator is Dr. Michael Rosenberg, director bioinformatics in the company's Life Sciences Group.
The other principal investigators
include:
- James Yager, professor in preventive medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
- Robert Kavlock, director of the National Center for Computational Toxicology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Mel Andersen, associate director of the Hamner Institute for Health Sciences.
- Kim Boekelheide, professor of medical sciences at Brown University.
- Albert J. Fornace, Jr., molecular cancer research chair at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center.
Funding for the project comes from the
Common Fund's NIH Director's Transformative Research Projects Program, which is
designed to support exceptionally innovative, high-risk, original and/or
unconventional research that has the potential to create or overturn
fundamental scientific paradigms. More information on the NIH Transformative
Research Projects Award can be found at commonfund.nih.gov/T-R01, including
information on this year's awardees.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is
the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical
analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications. The company's 18,700
employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had net revenues
of $6.6 billion in fiscal 2011. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.