International STakeholder NETwork (ISTNET) for Developmental Neurotoxicity Testing (DNT)

What is it about?

Advances in neurobiology, coupled with the rise in developmental and adult neurological disorders, have prompted calls for increased testing of chemicals, food additives, and drugs for adverse impacts on the developing brain. New methods (including in vitro human stem cell-derived models), hold great promise for more efficient and predictive models for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) and can be used in an integrated manner to solve regulatory challenges. In order to define a regulatory need for predictive models of DNT and develop a road map for an integrated testing strategy (ITS) for DNT in the context of regulatory requirements, there needs to be truly effective communication and discussion between various stakeholders (regulators, industry, and academia). To establish this, the first meeting of the International STakeholder NETwork (ISTNET) was held in Zurich on January 23-24, 2014 to build consensus on development and use of in vitro methods to deliver useful data for regulatory decisions.

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Why is it important?

Overall, the meeting was successful in generating discussions between scientists and regulators. These discussions are critical for the development of methods and models that provide useful data for regulatory purposes. They also are important in keeping regulators informed and engaged as the science of developmental neurotoxicity evolves.