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A paper by McCullough that will inform safer, more reliable toxicity assessments earned “Best Paper of the Year” plaudits
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — A paper by Shaun D. McCullough, Ph.D., a Senior Respiratory Scientist at the independent scientific research institute RTI International, has been named the “Best Paper of the Year” by the Society of Toxicology’s Regulatory and Safety Evaluation Specialty Section (RSESS).
The recognition highlights his pivotal study, “Liquid application dosing alters the physiology of air-liquid interface (ALI) primary human bronchial epithelial cell/lung fibroblast co-cultures and in vitro testing relevant endpoints,” published in Frontiers in Toxicology in January 2024.
“I am honored to receive this recognition from the Society of Toxicology on behalf of my very talented and determined research team,” said McCullough. “Our findings described in the paper provide important insights on how new approach methodologies (NAMs) can be used to enable safer, more reliable toxicity assessments for industrial chemicals, consumer products, and air pollutants.”
Photo credit: by Dr. Erin Huber
McCullough and his colleagues found that applying liquid to the surface of these air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures, which mimic in vivo conditions in the respiratory tract, can disrupt cell behavior even without any test substance. These disruptions can make cells from healthy donors exhibit disease-like behaviors that could limit their use for reliably predicting the effects of experimental exposures on human health during chemical safety testing.
The paper is the first characterization of a commonly-used method in early steps to gain acceptance of new approach methodologies (NAMs) as an alternative to animal testing in the assessment of potential respiratory toxicity for chemicals.
The findings directly support efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to adopt NAMs for evaluating inhalable chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Read the full paper (via Frontiers in Toxicology)
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