The Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF) was established in 2001 by the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology (SSCT). The main goal of the BEMF is to honour the memory of Dr. Björn Ekwall by giving a reward to the scientists who have substantially contributed to the field of cell toxicology, e.g. by developing new in vitro tests, or via mechanistic or validation studies.

In recognition of her pioneering work in the field of 

 hepatotoxicity, Dr Maria José Gómez-Lechón is the first recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award. 

Dr. Gómez-Lechón has developed many different hepatic cellular models including primary human hepatocyte cultures, three-dimensional cultures, co-cultures of hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells and genetically engineered cell lines which express different biotransformation enzymes. On an early stage, she realised the applicability of cultured hepatocytes for toxicity and biotransformation studies and has propagated for their use as alternatives to animal experiments. Dr. Gómez-Lechón was one of the first researchers to take part in the MEIC project (Multicentre Evaluation of 

 Cytotoxicity Programme, 1989-1999). By testing the MEIC chemicals in 15 different in vitro test systems, she was the one that contributed the most to the accomplishment of the MEIC project.

Dr Maria José Gómez-Lechón

In recognition of his pioneering work in the field of 

 screening of complex materials for acute toxicity, Dr Per Kjellstrand is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2003. Dr. Kjellstrand early realised the necessity to develop rapid and reproducible methods for detection of the toxic activities for large sets of compounds. In the eighties, he introduced cell-based techniques for high throughput toxicity screening into the industrial laboratory, which now have replaced the traditional acute toxicity tests. The world-widely used methods for detection of toxic activity of dialysis fluids and equipment were developed in Dr. Kjellstrand’s department. Dr. Kjellstrand was also one of the first researchers to take part in the MEIC project, which later confirmed the usefulness of simple in vitro methods as alternatives to acute animal toxicity tests.

Dr Per Kjellstrand (1941 - 2010)

 neurotoxicology and her enthusiastic efforts for the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology, Professor Hanna Tähti is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2004. Professor Hanna Tähti started in the eighties to investigate the effects of organic solvents on acetylcholine esterase activity in erythrocytes. By that, she definitely left the rats as the experimental model behind and focused on the development of simple as well as sophisticated in vitro models of the central nervous system and corneal, retinal and blood-brain barriers. She has educated many students and encouraged them to explore new techniques and scientifically demanding matters the field of 

 neurotoxicology. Professor Hanna Tähti is a devoted member of the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology.

Professor Hanna Tähti

Dr. Hasso Seibert and Dr. Michael Gülden from Germany are the joint recipients of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2005, in recognition of their significant contribution to 

 – in vivo extrapolation of toxicity Dr. Hasso Seibert and Dr. Michael Gülden received the award for their work on factors that influence nominal effective concentrations of chemical compounds 

 by defining algorithms for calculation of free chemical concentrations at the target organ. They have also participated in the Multicentre Evaluation of In vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) project with the sophisticated cell models including muscle cell contractility and bovine sperm motility assays. Seibert and Gülden are very active and highly acknowledged in the 

Dr. Hasso Seibert and Dr. Michael Gülden

In recognition of her enthusiastic work in the MEIC, EDIT and the ACuteTox project, together with her invaluable efforts for the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology, Dr. Cecilia Clemedson is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2006. After receiving her PhD degree at the Department of Neurochemistry and Neurotoxicology at Stockholm University in 1992, Cecilia Clemedson continued her carrier by working on the validation of 

 cytotoxicity methods for the use in the estimation of acute systemic toxicity. During many years, she was Björn Ekwall’s closest collaborator in the MEIC project. After Björn Ekwall’s death in 2000, she carried on with the EDIT project and the idea to find an alternative strategy to traditional toxicity testing. Cecilia Clemedson is presently the scientific coordinator of the EU-funded ACuteTox project (Optimisation and pre-validation of an 

 test strategy for predicting human acute toxicity), which is the largest validation project in the world for acute systemic toxicity, comprising 35 partners in 13 countries. Cecilia Clemedson has implemented Björn Ekwall’s and her own ideas very successfully within the framework of her private companies, i.e. her driving force has been - and still is – an excellent contribution to the projects under her guidance.

Dr Cecilia Clemedson

In recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of in vitro toxicology, particularly promoting the development, optimization, validation and acceptance of alternative (non-animal) testing and research methods, Dr Rodger Dean Curren is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2007. After he defended his PhD thesis in 1975 in the field of microbiology, Dr. Curren devoted his scientific research to studies of mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of toxic chemicals in several human and animal cell models. He made important contributions in the development and implementation of non-animal ocular and dermal irritation tests. Dr. Curren has contributed significantly to elaboration of criteria for validation of alternative toxicological methods and for their use in the cosmetic and chemical industries. Dr. Curren was also an active collaborator of Dr. Björn Ekwall in the MEIC project. Dr. Curren is at present time the President of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc, Gaithersburg, Maryland, the U.S.A., which is an internationally recognized Non-Profit Institute founded to promote the development of alternative methods in toxicity testing. Dr. Curren was 1995-2002 a member of the Pre-validation Task Force for ECVAM (European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods), a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods for NIEHS, ICCVAM and NICEATM (2002-2005), and a member of the Advisory Board for EU ACuteTox project (2006). He is a member of the Steering Committee for COLIPA’s 3D skin genotoxicity project, as well as a member of other scientific bodies.

Dr Rodger Dean Curren

In recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of 

 toxicology, particularly promoting implementation of alternative methods for estimation of neurotoxicity Professor Erik Walum is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2008. Erik Walum (Biovitrum AB, Sweden) is one of the most significant pioneers in the field of 

 neurotoxicology. His research has mainly been focused on the influence of toxic substances on neuronal differentiation and degeneration, protection against neurotoxic insult and nerve-glia co-operation. Erik Walum's ideas about mechanism-based toxicity, starting in the early eighties, are still outstanding. Several of the methods that were developed under his guidance have been evaluated, with great success, in international collaborations. Erik Walum has significantly contributed to the advancement of the acceptance of alternative methods to laboratory animal models through his commitment in national and international expert committees such as the Swedish board for laboratory animals (CFN), the European Research Group for Alternative Toxicity Testing (ERGATT) and the European Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) of the European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). Erik Walum has fostered a large number of students in the field of 

 toxicology, particularly neurotoxicology, and he supervised 5 students to higher academic degrees at Stockholm university. Together with Björn Ekwall, he founded the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology (SSCT) and he had a fundamental role in the early days of the MEIC project.

Djurönäset, Stockholm, Sweden, September 27, 2008

Professor Erik Walum

In recognition of her outstanding contribution in the field of in vitro toxicology, promoting implementation of alternative methods for estimation of molecular mechanisms of toxicity Dr. Annalaura Stammati is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year of 2009. Annalaura Stammati is a research director at the Istituto Superiore di Sanitŕ (ISS), Rome, Italy; and since 2004 she is the director of the Toxicity Mechanisms Unit in the Department of Environment and Primary Prevention. With her team, she significantly contributed to the study of the toxicity of synthetic and natural compounds using different cell lines. In the last years the research was focused on compounds toxic for the gastro-intestinal tract, also investigating their absorption, by using in vitro intestinal models. This non animal-based approach integrating toxicodynamics and biokinetics should lead to the development of a strategy for measuring the real exposure of cells to chemicals and to the prediction of biokinetics in humans. A. Stammati has significantly contributed to the advancement of the acceptance of alternative methods to laboratory animal models through her commitment in national and international expert committees, e.g since 2002 she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of ECVAM (Ispra); she is an expert in OECD Test Guidelines Program (since 1998), and in the Italian delegation in the Committee of Experts on Cosmetic Products (2005-2007). She also funded IPAM, the Italian Platform on Alternative Methods in 2003. During her almost 40 years long career, she was the scientific leader of the Italian unit in many national and international projects and responsible for the education of numerous students and post-graduate students in the field of 

 toxicology. A. Stammati was one of the closest co-workers of Dr. Björn Ekwall; she participated in the MEIC project from the very beginning, and was a co-author of several MEIC publications.

Lazně Sedmihorky, Czech Republic, September 18, 2009

Dr Annalaura Stammati

In recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of in vitro toxicology, in particular with respect to development, implementation and validation of alternative toxicity test methods, and for his substantial contribution to the FRAME Research Programme Dr. Richard Clothier is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2010. Richard Clothier substantially contributed to the field of in vitro toxicology by developing alternative assays for replacing animal toxicity testing. As an expert in national and international trials, he also significantly contributed to the further advancement of the acceptance of alternative assays for toxicity through his commitment to a number of studies including: FRAME study in 1983-1986, the EC/HO and COLIPA international validation study on alternatives to the Draize eye irritation test, EU/COLIPA international validation study on the in vitro 3T3 NRU test for phototoxicity and others. For many years Dr. Clothier collaborated with Dr. Björn Ekwall on the MEIC programme aimed at the evaluation of ability of in vitro basal cytotoxicity assays to predict human acute systemic toxicity. Dr. Clothier was one of the scientific leaders of the integrated EU sponsored ACuteTox project, and he contributed to its in vitro-in vivo evaluation of the data. Dr. Clothier was a co-founder (1983) of the FRAME Alternative Laboratory (FAL) at the University of Nottingham, in the Medical School, and was a director of the FAL from 1997 to 2005. Since 2005 he is an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham. R. Clothier has been a FRAME Trustee since 1983.

Dr Richard Clothier 

In recognition of her excellent scientific work in the field of 

 toxicology Dr Päivi Myllynen is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2011. Dr. Päivi Myllynen (University of Oulu, Finland) has significantly contributed to the field of in vitro toxicology by evaluating placental transfer and metabolism of environmental contaminants and food-borne carcinogens in the human placental perfusion model. Dr. Myllynen has built her scientific career with great determination and enthusiasm. She completed her Ph.D. thesis in 2003 and acts today as a senior lecturer at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Biomedicine, university of Oulu. In addition to the constantly increasing scientific publication activity, she has already started her own research group of younger scientists and doctoral students. The Björn Ekwall Memorial Award will be handed over at the occasion of the 28thAnnual Workshop of the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology,

Dr Päivi Myllynen

Professor Dr. med. Horst Spielmann, has significantly contributed to the field of in vitro toxicology by developing of non-animal tests aiming reduction of animal experiments. The alternative models for toxicity testing developed by H. Spielmann are used world-wide, e.g. use of mouse fibroblasts for the estimation of phototoxicity and chemical toxicity, or human keratinocyte cultures for the test on irritation by chemicals. He also developed the embryonic stem cell test (EST), which is an in vitro embryotoxicity test using two permanent mouse cell lines: 3T3 fibroblasts and embryonic stem cells. These tests have been evaluated statistically and are reproducible. H. Spielmann was a collaborator of Dr. Björn Ekwall during several years. He participated in the MEIC program being head of one of the laboratories at ZEBET that provided data for the MEIC reference chemicals. He was an associate editor of ATLA, which published all papers about MEIC project. The Björn Ekwall Memorial Award will be handed over at the occasion of the ESTIV 2012 meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, October 16-19, 2012. At the meeting, Professor Spielmann will deliver the Björn Ekwall Memorial Lecture with the title: Today Björn Ekwall would endorse the concept "Toxicology in the 21st Century.

Professor Dr. med. Horst Spielmann

Professor Per Artursson (M Sci Pharm, PhD) at Uppsala University, Department of Pharmaceutics, receives the 2013 Björn Ekwall Memorial Award in recognition of his scientific achievements in the field of drug design and delivery and for the innovative design and successful implementation of in vitro methods in pharmacy and toxicology.

During the course of this research Dr. Artursson has developed a number of new, scientifically sound and animal saving, in vitro models based on advanced cell and molecular biology. These models have been adopted by the drug industry for prediction of drug absorption in the drug discovery process. Dr. Artursson has also been important for the development of in vitro and in silico methods e.g. through his participation in large international studies like MEIC and ACuteTox. The Björn Ekwall Memorial Award 2013 will be handed over at the occasion of the 29th Workshop of SSCT, 25-27 September 2013, Vilvorde Course Center, Charlottenlund, Denmark. At the meeting, Professor Artursson will deliver the Björn Ekwall Memorial Lecture.

Charlottenlund, Denmark, September 25-27, 2013

Professor Per Artursson 

Dr. Tuula Heinonen (Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Director of FICAM) from the School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland has been selected for the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award 2014 in recognition of her achievements in promotion and implementation of alternative methods by developing human cell based tissue/organ models, as well as by establishing the Finnish Centre for Alternative Methods (FICAM). Dr. Heinonen defended her PhD thesis in 1982 in the field of toxicology, at the University of Turku; in 1993 she became Adjunct Professor in biochemistry at the University of Helsinki, and in 1984 adjunct professor in toxicology at the University of Turku. Dr. Heinonen has worked as scientist at the Institute of Occupational Health (1979-83) and as toxicologist and in leading research positions in pharmaceutical industry (1983-2007). She has worked in the University of Tampere from 2007 on first in Cell Research Center, and after the establishment of FICAM in 2008 as director of it. Dr. Heinonen and her group will develop human cell based tissue models for biomedical research and toxicology. The focus of Dr. Heinonen is on the development and validation of better methods for prediction of human effects by using human cell based tissue models instead of animal experiments. The first validated model developed by Dr Heinonen’s group is angiogenesis model applicable for both biomedical and toxicological purposes. The Björn Ekwall Memorial Award 2014 will be handed over at the occasion of the 9th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in Life Sciences, which will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, 24 - 28 August, 2014. At the meeting, Dr. Heinonen will deliver the Björn Ekwall Memorial Lecture on the 27th of August at 6 p.m. The title of the lecture is: Better science with human-based organ and tissue models.

Dr Tuula Heinonen

Professor Michael Balls, from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2015 in recognition of his pioneering work in promoting animal welfare and alternatives to animal testing. Professor Balls has significantly contributed to the field of in vitro toxicology by promoting the use of non-animal tests to replace and reduce animal experiments. Michael Balls (born in 1938, in Norwich, Norfolk, UK) studied zoology at Oxford University, where he graduated in 1960, and obtained his PhD in 1964. After post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, California, USA, and Reed College, Portland, Oregon, USA, he lectured in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 1975, he moved to the University of Nottingham Medical School, as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Morphology. In 1985, he became Reader in Medical Cell Biology, and in 1990 he was promoted to Professor of Medical Cell Biology. Since 1995, he has been an Emeritus Professor of the University of Nottingham. In 1979, Michael Balls became a Trustee of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME), and in 1981 he became Chairman of the Trustees and moved the charity from London to Nottingham. Under his leadership, FRAME became the most important organisation in the world for fighting for animal welfare and promoting alternatives to animal experimentation. In 1984, FRAME received the first ever grant from the UK government for work on replacement alternatives. In 1983, Michael Balls became Editor of the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Alternatives to Laboratory Animals (ATLA). Under his leadership for more than three decades, this journal has been publishing articles on cell toxicology and playing an important role in the implementation of in vitro testing methodologies and scientific achievements in this field. For several years, all the papers concerning the results of the Multicentre Evaluation of In vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) project (1989-1999), initiated and guided by Bjorn Ekwall, were been published in ATLA.

The Björn Ekwall Memorial Award 2015 will be handed over at the occasion of the SSCT-Swetox workshop 2015 in Järna, Sweden 13th –15th October 2015. Read more

At the meeting, Professor Balls delivered the Björn Ekwall Memorial Lecture (published in ATLA in December 2015. Read the article).

Professor Michael Balls

Prof. Rogiers, from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2016 in recognition of her contribution to the field of in vitro toxicology with her excellent research on the development of alternative methods aiming at the replacement of animal experiments.

Prof. Rogiers made her PhD thesis in pharmaceutical sciences at VUB in 1980, and Master’s Degree in applied toxicology at University of Guildford (UK) in 2000. She has been head of the Department of Toxicology, Dermato-cosmetology and Pharmacognosy in the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at VUB since 2000 and professor since 2001. Her team has developed in vitro models for pharmaco-toxicological purposes as alternatives to the use of experimental animals in biotransformation and toxicity studies of drugs, cosmetics and other chemical substances. The recent focus has been on epigenetic modification of primary hepatocytes to stabilize their specific phenotype in culture, as well as on production of human hepatocytes from mesenchymal progenitor cells of adult human tissues. Prof. Rogiers has more than 310 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and is editor of several scientific books. The research on liver-based in vitro modelling and stem cell technology has led to the acceptance of three patents at VUB. She is a frequently invited speaker at international scientific congresses and has organized several congresses by herself.

At European level, she has been co-chair of SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety) and ESAC (ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee) till April 2013, and continues to be an invited expert. She was a Founding member and the first President (2000-2009) of ECOPA (European Consensus Platform on 3R-Alternatives), bringing together Academia, Industry, Animal welfare and Governmental Institutes in EU countries. Prof. Rogiers is member of several scientific societies and editorial boards of scientific journals. She is European Registered Toxicologist (ERT) since 2010, and coordinator and research partner in several research consortia granted by EU framework programs.

Prof. Rogiers has received several scientific grants, e.g. Doerenkamp-Zbinden Award in 2000. In addition to her excellent research carrier, she has contributed markedly to the education of young scientists in pharmaceutical sciences and toxicology by supervising over 20 doctoral theses in VUB, by organizing international scientific courses, and by acting as an invited visiting lecturer at many foreign universities.

Professor Vera Rogiers from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium, received the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2016 at the conference of the European Society For Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV), held in Juan-les-Pins on 17-20 October 2016. The award ceremony was conducted by Anna Forsby, who delivered the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award 2016 on behalf of the BEMF's board.

The theme of the ESTIV conference in 2016 was In Vitro Toxicology for Safety Assessment with focus on how new technologies can strengthen the interpretation and application of in vitro methods in toxicological research and risk assessment (www.estiv2016.com). Vera Rogiers gave an excellent lecture in the spirit of Björn Ekwall’s concept of basal cytotoxicity. She referred to the Multicentre Evaluation of In vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) project, which was the first study that showed that human cells predict human toxicity better than cells from any other species and even mice and rats. Convinced about the fact that human cells are the only relevant tissue for human safety assessment, Rogiers has developed and used human cell and tissue models throughout decades. Lately, Rogiers’ research team have used human postnatal mesenchymal stem cells that are isolated from human skin and differentiated them into functional liver cells. These skin-derived, differentiated hepatic progenitor cells have been shown to be useful for estimation of toxicological responses such as liver damage, liver necrosis and steatosis by using a toxicogenomic approach. Again, Vera Rogiers and her research team present a novel, innovative human cell model that can be used for human safety assessment.

Professor Vera Rogiers

Professor Thomas Hartung from the Johns Hopkins University, the United States of America, is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2017 in recognition of his scientific achievements in the development and evaluation of methods for risk assessment of toxic chemicals, without the use of experimental animals, and for his work as the Director of ECVAM (2002-2008) and the Director of CAAT (from 2009 until present).

Thomas Hartung did his PhD 1991 at the University of Konstanz (Germany) one year before the MD in 1992 at the University of Tuebingen (Germany), and still hold a professorship of pharmacology and toxicology. He has a broad research background in clinical and experimental pharmacology and toxicology. His early work centered on the immune recognition of bacteria, including pyrogen testing, and the induced inflammatory response. The pharmacological modulation of these responses was studied in experimental and clinical approaches. More recently, the work of Thomas Hartung has centered to find new strategies for toxicity testing in the 21st century.

In 2002 he became the head of the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) of the European Commission (2002-2008). Early 2009 T. Hartung relocated to the US and became the director for the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT). In addition, he established a laboratory for developmental neurotoxicity research based on genomics and metabolomics and respective technologies (2010).

Since 2009 the main goal of his work is toward a paradigm shift in toxicity testing to improve public health. He is involved in the implementation of the 2007 NRC vision document “Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century – a vision and a strategy”. He has brought the translation concept of the evidence-based medicine to toxicology (evidence-based toxicology). This aims for systematic assessment of the quality of all tools for regulatory toxicology and the development of new approaches based on annotated pathways of toxicity.

Professor Hartung has received several awards concerning alternative testing and animal welfare. Only to mention some of them: Russell & Burch award of Humane Society of the US (2009), Agilent Thought-Leader Award (2010), EuroGroup for Animals – Animal Welfare Award (2014) and LUSH Prize (2014). He has published more than 500 articles in peer-review journals.

The Award will be handed over at the occasion of the ECOPA-SSCT Workshop 2017, June 14-16, Helsinki, Finland

Professor Thomas Hartung 

Associate professor Anna Forsby working at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, and at the Swedish Toxicological Sciences Research Center (SWETOX), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2018 in recognition of her scientific achievements in the field of cellular neurotoxicology and development of non-animal test methods.

Anna Forsby´s main research interest is to study mechanisms for chemically induced acute and sub-chronic neurotoxicity by using different neuronal cell models. The usefulness of the cell models for risk assessment is evaluated by integrating in vitro data derived from the cell models with historic in vivo data from rat and clinical observations from exposed human in predictions models. Furthermore, mechanisms for chemically induced nociception are studied in a recombinant neuronal cell model expressing the Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) ion channels. The latter research has resulted in the development and evaluation of a cell culture model that holds promise to replace the Draize eye irritation test that is criticized for its animal cruelty.

The Award will be handed over October 15 at the 20th International Congress on In Vitro Toxicology (ESTIV2018) taking place in Berlin, October 15-18, 2018.

Associate professor Anna Forsby

Dr. Jan van der Valk, director of the 3Rs-Centre Utrecht Life Sciences at the faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2019 in recognition of his persistent, engaged, informative, and reliable work based on facts in informing the scientific community about the concern of using fetal bovine serum in cell culture medium from an animal ethical view point as well as in the perspective of reproducibility issues. Jan van der Valk is also recognized for his efforts in establishing the fetal bovine serum free data base (fcs-free.org).

Dr Jan van der Valk

Dr. Sandra Coecke, senior scientist at European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy, is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2020 in recognition of her work on the development and validation of new in vitro cell- and tissue-based methods for in vitro toxicity testing for the replacement of animal experiments. Sandra Coecke is also highly recognized for her leading role in the development of the European Commission Joint Research Centre’s guidance document on Good Cell Culture Practice (GCCP) and the OECD’s guidance document on Good In Vitro Method Practices (GIVIMP).

In her award lecture, Dr. Coecke will present insights from her extensive work related to the development and validation of novel in vitro methods, how to promote best practices, and how we can strive to make our non-animal methods truly animal free. Due to covid-19 restrictions the award will be presented 2021. The ceremony will be held at the 11th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 22 - 26 August, 2021

Dr. Sandra Coecke

Dr. Helena Kandárová, Senior Scientist in Centre of Experimental Medicine at the Slovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Slovakia and assistant professor in the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Institute of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Bratislava, Slovakia.is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2022. Dr. Kandárová is an European Registered Toxicologist having a deep knowledge in regulatory toxicology and especially in in vitro methods and broad practical experience to apply in vitro science and in vitro toxicology in research institutes, academia and industry. She performed her Ph.D. thesis in Freie Universität in Berlin on „ Use of Reconstructed human tissue models in regulatory toxicology“. After finishing her Ph.D. she moved to in vitro science industry, MatTek Corporation. Dr. Kandárová´s recent position is acting as Senior Scientist in Centre of Experimental Medicine at the Slovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Slovakia and assistant professor in the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Institute of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Bratislava, Slovakia.

Dr. Kandárová has been and is actively involved in many national and international projects related to development, validation and implementation of in vitro methods to promote paradigm change from animal biology based testing to in vitro- based testing in research and regulatory science. Her special focus is non-animal methods and approaches for topical toxicity testing. She has over 50 publications. Dr. Kandárová is an executive board member of several toxicology related organizations. To mention a few: she is president of the European Society for Toxicology in Vitro (2020-), a member of EPAA Mirror group (2020-) and the chair of the Slovak National Platform for 3Rs (2018-).

BEMF acknowledge very much Dr. Kandárová´s novel scientific work, dissemination and promotion of non-animal science to replace animal testing.

Dr. Helena Kandárová

Professor Dr. Marcel Leist, chair of the In Vitro Toxicology and Biomedicine Department inaugurated by the Doerenkamp-Zbinden foundation at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing in Europe (CAAT-Europe), is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2023 in recognition of novel and pioneering scientific work, dissemination and promotion of non-animal science with a determined and targeted goal to replace laboratory animals in research and regulatory testing.

The research in Marcel Leist´s lab focuses broadly on non-animal methods and approaches addressing the critical fields of toxicology as developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and neurodegeneration where unmet needs exist. To get methods and approaches used by industry and accepted by regulators they need to be standardized and quality controlled. Professor Leist has promoted quality aspect in many ways in research when developing non-animal models and disseminating them e.g. in the connection with EU projects and with CAAT Europe activities and in publications. Professor Leist is an acknowledged speaker in international congresses and meetings. He teaches students in various field of biological science including biochemistry, toxicology and pharmacology, human biology/disease biology, and new animal-free approaches in pharmacology and toxicology. Besides Professor Leist’s significance in the research field and contribution to new approach methodologies for developmental neurotoxicity risk assessment, the Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation acknowledges his efforts to educate, encourage and foster the next generation toxicologists to replace conventional toxicity testing using animals, with high quality non-animal tests and approaches. This was also the approach of professor Björn Ekwall to whose memory the foundation was established.

Professor Marcel Leist

Dr. Hanna Vuorenpää is the recipient of the 2025 Björn Ekwall Memorial Award, in recognition of her groundbreaking work in in vitro model development and in particular the advancement of organ-on-a-chip research. Her achievements include developing models without the use of fetal bovine serum and promoting animal-free cell culturing through teaching and outreach activities.

As a post-doctoral researcher at Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Hanna Vuorenpää has a leading role in a large research group working on novel organ-on-a-chip platforms. These can be used in toxicity studies but are also widely applicable in biomedical research. The group has also developed advanced 3D co-culture systems combining e.g. human hepatocytes, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells to replicate a human liver with complex vasculogenesis, as well as organ-on-a chip models to investigate neurovascular networks for studies of the blood-brain barrier. Hanna is the President of the Finnish National Consensus Platform for Alternatives to Animal Testing, member of the Finish Project Authorisation Committee and the Finish National Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes under the directive 2010/63/EU (the EU directive to protect animals used in animal experiments).

Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF)

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