Extended Advisory Group on Molecular Screening and Toxicogenomics (EAGMST)
Italian representatives:
Olga Tcheremenskaia (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Environment and Health Department)
Cecilia Bossa (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Environment and Health Department)
Barbara Viviani (University of Milan, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences)
The OECD Extended Advisory Group on Molecular Screening and Toxicogenomics (EAGMST), co-chaired by the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC), is under the supervision of the of the OECD Test Guidelines Programme (WNT) and the Working Party on Hazard Assessment (WPHA).
The main role of EAGMST is the coordination of the Programme for the Development of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) launched by the OECD in 2012.
An AOP describes a sequential chain of causally linked events at different levels of biological organisation that lead to an adverse health or ecotoxicological effect. Essentially an AOP summarises existing knowledge for linkage between two anchor points - the Molecular Initiating Event (MIE), and an Adverse Outcome (AO), connected by a chain of Key Events (KE) and the relationships between them (KER). AOPs are essential in the process of moving away from traditional methods towards the alternative non-animal approaches.
The AOP framework is the result of a wide international collaboration with the aim to support chemical risk assessment based on mechanistic reasoning.
The AOP Knowledge Base includes AOP Wiki is a public collaborative resource, which allows an AOP to continuously evolve as the understanding of basic science grows.
The main responsibilities of the EAGMST Group include:
- evaluation of AOP proposals and their inclusion in the OECD AOP Programme Work Plan
- providing assistance to AOP authors during the AOP development process and compliance check with the OECD Guidance Document for developing and accessing AOP
- organising of external review and further submission of AOP for endorsement by WNT and WPHA
- updating of the relevant guidance documents
- management and development of the AOP knowledge base (AOP-KB), which include AOP Wiki, Effectopedia, AOP Xplorer and Intermediate effect DB
- dissemination and training
In addition, Italian experts have an active role in the different subgroups of EAGMST:
- subgroup on Coaching, User Handbook, Gardening, and Internal Review of AOP
- subgroup on Education, Training & Communication
- subgroup on Ontologies for AOP components
For more information, please visit:
Adverse Outcome Pathways, Molecular Screening and Toxicogenomics (OECD)
