Best short presentation: award for two BfR scientists
Anne-Margarethe Enge and Marja Kornhuber have been recognised with the award of the German Society of Toxicology for the best short presentation. Both scientists from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) are sharing the award, which they received on 5 March 2020 at the ‘German Pharm-Tox Summit’ in Leipzig.
Anne-Margarethe Enge researches pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) at the BfR. This concerns substances which are formed by some flowering plants, and which can be toxic. PAs can occur as contaminants in foods such as honey, herbal teas and aromatic herbs such as oregano. There are currently over 660 known PAs, although their toxicity varies. In her presentation, Anne-Margarethe Enge presented a study which analysed the association between the intake and transportation of PAs, and the toxicity thereof.
New laboratory methods developed
BfR scientist Marja Kornhuber deals with endocrine active environmental chemicals in her research. These substances have an influence on the hormone system and can subsequently be involved in the development of diseases such as breast cancer. Laboratory animals are still frequently needed in order to identify and characterise them. Marja Kornhuber proposed a new testing method in her presentation, with which chemicals with oestrogenic and anti-oestrogenic effects can be reliably identified.
The Society of Toxicology is a member of the German Society of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT). It meets once a year at the ‘German Pharm-Tox Summit’.
Links:
- https://www.toxikologie.de/?id=308 (GST Award 2020 for Anne-Margarethe Enge)
- https://www.toxikologie.de/?id=313 (GST Award 2020 for Marja Kornhuber)