Keynote speakers

state of the art speakers 3Rs Integrating 3 Worlds: Human, Animal and Environmental Health

Opening Keynote

Ekaterina Rivera

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"IT IS A LONG WAY FROM ROME TO BEIJING, BUT IT IS MUCH LONGER FROM A HORSE VET TO ALTERNATIVES"

This presentation is a short story about the path taken by many scientists from the shy introduction of the 3 R´s in Brazil until this Congress. It will be told by someone who has been present at many important moments of this evolution. It must be said that the development of the 3 R´s is parallel to the improvement of laboratory animal science in our country.

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Education

Marcelo Asprea

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"Using the largest number of tools available in surgical education and training, reliable results are obtained."

Veterinarian graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences University of Buenos Aires; Head of biothery and experimental surgery Hospital de Pediatria Prof Dr Juan P Garrahan; Veterinary anesthesiology and laboratory animals specialist both granted by the professional council of veterinary doctors. Former President of the Argentine Association of Science and Technology of Laboratory Animals (AACyTAL) 2013-2018 Former President of The Federation of South American Societies for Laboratory Animal Sciences (FESSACAL) 2020-2023 and 2023-2026.

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Environmental Health

Jinhee Choi

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"Bridging Human and Environmental Toxicology: AI-Driven Mechanistic Approaches for One Health-Based Next-Generation Risk Assessment."

Dr. Jinhee Choi is a Professor at the School of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, and Director of the Chemical Big Data AI Research Center. She holds a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental Science from Seoul National University, Korea and a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Paris XI, France.

Dr. Choi is a leading expert in computational toxicology, specializing in AI-driven toxicity prediction, systems toxicology, and Next-Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA). Her research aims to modernize chemical safety assessment by integrating big data, AI, and mechanistic toxicology to improve the prediction of adverse effects caused by environmental chemicals. She has pioneered data-driven approaches to toxicity prediction modeling, developing explainable AI models that incorporate molecular, cellular, and organism-level toxicity data to enhance the reliability and interpretability of chemical risk assessments.

A significant focus of her work is the development of Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP)-based alternative testing strategies, where she utilizes high-throughput screening (HTS), omics technologies, and in silico modeling to establish predictive frameworks that reduce reliance on traditional animal testing. By aligning AOPs with AI-powered molecular toxicity networks, her research provides a mechanistic foundation for NGRA, enabling more accurate hazard identification and prioritization of chemicals based on biological relevance.
Her expertise extends to regulatory science, where she actively applies NGRA principles to chemical safety management policies, bridging the gap between advanced toxicology research and real-world regulatory applications. Recently, she has focused on One Health approaches, integrating human and environmental toxicity assessment through AI-powered predictive modeling, contributing to a more comprehensive and sustainable framework for chemical risk assessment.

Dr. Choi has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Toxicology (2015-2017) by Clarivate Analytics for her outstanding contributions to the field. She has served in various leadership roles, including President of the Korean Society of Environmental Toxicology and Health and as an advisory member of the Korean Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology. Currently, she serves as Co-Editor of the NAM Journal and actively contributes to global efforts in advancing non-animal testing methodologies and AI-driven chemical safety assessments.

Through her pioneering research and leadership, Dr. Choi continues to shape the future of environmental toxicology, ensuring the development of safer chemicals and more sustainable risk assessment strategies in the era of next-generation regulatory science.

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Animal Health

Patricia Turner

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"Compassionate Caring: Developing Sustainable Relationships With Research Animals."

Dr. Patricia Turner is a laboratory animal veterinarian and pathologist who is a University Professor Emerita at the University of Guelph in Canada. In 2024, she retired from her role as Corporate Vice-President, Global Animal Welfare for Charles River Laboratories, where she was responsible for assessing welfare risks and developing animal welfare policy and related training for the company’s sites around the world. At the University of Guelph, Turner worked a tenured professor in the Department of Pathobiology conducting research and overseeing programs in laboratory animal science and managing the university’s laboratory animal diagnostic pathology core. Dr. Turner is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM), the American Board of Toxicology (ABT), and the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (specialising in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law; ECAWBM). She is President of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, a Past President of the World Veterinary Association, a member of AAALAC Council, and is also an author and co-editor of many chapters, books and papers on animal welfare, laboratory animal science, and small mammal pathology.

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Human Health

Gavin Maxwell

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"Paradigm Shift in Progress: Witnessing the Worldwide Adoption of Animal-Free Safety Science."

Dr Gavin Maxwell is an immunologist by training and is currently Head of Regulatory Science and Advocacy at Unilever working as part of the recently launched Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Sciences (SERS) team. Since 2022, he has held the role of Industry co-chair within the European Partnership on Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) and he also co-leads the Core Acceptance Team within the International Collaboration on Cosmetic Safety (ICCS). Gavin has over twenty years of experience in developing, evaluating and applying non-animal safety assessment approaches – spending a large portion of his career establishing non-animal approaches for skin sensitisation.

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Closing keynote

Nicole Kleinstreuer

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"Computational Intelligence and Biological Relevance: Innovating for a Safer Future."

Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer is a global leader in the field of human biology-based biomedical research strategies and environmental health sciences. As the director of the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM), and the executive director of the congressionally mandated Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM), she leads worldwide efforts to understand human health and disease pathways and protect public health and the environment in a more efficient and effective manner. NICEATM, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the U.S. federal resource for alternatives to animal testing. There, Kleinstreuer leads domestic and international efforts to develop novel testing, modeling, and analysis strategies that provide more rapid, mechanistic, and human-relevant predictions of potential chemical/drug effects on biological pathways. She has a PhD in biomedical engineering and postdoctoral training in computational toxicology, and holds adjunct faculty positions in the Yale University School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to many regulatory guidance documents, and won numerous awards, including the 2019 Society of Toxicology Achievement Award and the 2022 and 2024 NIH Director’s Award.

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