Dynamic modelling of toxic effects

18 – 22 October 2021, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science (SCIENCE), Denmark *
Online preparation: From 15/9-13/10 one Wednesday per week 13.30-16.30 CET

Venue

Danhostel Roskilde

*If the Covid-restrictions prevent traveling, the five days teaching will be converted to online teaching.

Background of Summer School / Introduction

The toxicity of a chemical not only depends on chemical properties and the exposed species, but also on exposure time, the endpoint measured, and the exposure conditions. Mathematical modelling is a powerful tool to interpret the results of laboratory toxicity tests and to make educated extrapolations. In this course, you will learn the basics of toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic modelling, and how they can be linked. This foundation allows you to analyse and interpret body residue and toxicity data on a mechanistic basis.

A detailed schedule for the content of the specific talks and exercises will be provided in spring. The overall content is given in this summary:
The toxicity of a chemical depends on properties of the compound and of the species that is exposed, but also on the exposure time, the endpoint (e.g. growth, reproduction or survival), and the exposure conditions (temperature, food level, etc.). In ecotoxicology, the interdependencies of these factors are generally ignored by rigid standardisation of the tests and descriptive summary statistics such as EC50 and NOEC. However, we need a more mechanistic interpretation of toxicity to make an unbiased comparison of toxicity between species and chemicals, and to extrapolate the effects to untested exposure conditions. Because it is impossible to test all chemicals on all species under all possible exposure scenarios, extrapolation is of key importance for ecotoxicologists and environmental risk assessors.

Mathematical modelling is a powerful tool to interpret the results of laboratory toxicity tests and to make educated extrapolations. The process of mechanistically modelling toxicity can be divided into two steps: toxicokinetics (TK) and toxicodynamics (TD). TK deals with the uptake, biotransformation and distribution of a chemical into the body of an organism, whereas TD deals with the next step: from internal concentration of the active compound to effects on the organism over time.

In this course, you will learn the basics of TK and TD modelling, and how they can be linked. Furthermore, you will learn to analyse and interpret toxicity data on a mechanistic basis. For TK modelling, we will focus on 1- and 2-compartment models; TD modelling will focus on a simple Dynamic Energy Budget model (DEBkiss), although we will also treat survival modelling with GUTS in the on-line part of the course. The course comprises a combination of lectures, computer exercises and discussions. In the computer exercises you will learn to build and use basic TKTD models yourself in Matlab, guided by a series of general exercises.

The course will be divided into two parts: An at-home and on-line part taking place from September 13th till October 15th, with an on-line meeting each Wednesday afternoon from 13.30-17.00. At these meetings, there will be lectures introducing theory and discussions on the reading materials and exercises. In between meetings, we ask you to study reading materials and make computer exercises to get acquainted with the software and with the topics. The on-line part focusses on TK and TD principles, and more specifically on TK and survival models (GUTS). The second part takes place on site at Danhostel Roskilde Vandrehjem, meeting Sunday October 17th for dinner and a short introduction, and finishing Friday October 22nd after lunch. During the on-site part of the course, we will focus more specifically on sub-lethal effects (with a DEB-based model). Each course day will consist of a mixture of lectures, exercises and group projects, that will help you to master the modeling and interpret your data output.

Maximum number of participants

30 participants

Pre-requisites

The participants need to have mathematical and statistical skills and are expected to get acquainted with the modelling software before the start of the course and during the online teaching modules, where introduction to modelling and basic concepts we taught.

Application Method

Students from BOKU, Wageningen, UHOH, SLU and CZU can register as exchange students using this form.

Students from the remaining ELLS members that don't have a short term mobility agreement with UCPH will have to enroll as single subject guest students.

Application Deadline

Final deadline is May 31th or when the maximum number of participants (30 students) has been reached.

The registration is binding, and the fee and expense of accommodation is non-refundable in case of participant cancellation after deadline 31th of May 2021.

All participants must bring their own lap-top with Matlab (version 2016b or newer) installed.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

In this course, students will:

Understand the concepts of TK and TD (online)
Understand the basics of mechanistic effect modelling (online)
Learning to work with the BYOM platform in Matlab (online)
Build simple TK models, and TD models for survival (online)
Build TKTD models for sub-lethal effects (on-site
Use them to analyse and interpret toxicity data (on-site)
Analyse a case study, and discuss and interpret the results (on-site)
Learn to use advanced analysis options with the BYOM platform under Matlab (on-site)

Literature

Jager T, Heugens EHW, Kooijman SALM. 2006. Making sense of ecotoxicological test results: Towards application of process-based models. Ecotoxicology 15:305-314.

Ashauer R, Escher BI. 2010. Advantages of toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic modelling in aquatic ecotoxicology and risk assessment. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 12:2056-2061.

Jager, T.; Martin, B. T.; Zimmer, E. I., DEBkiss or the quest for the simplest generic model of animal life history. Journal of Theoretical Biology 2013, 328, 9-18.

Jager T. (2020). Revisiting simplified DEBtox models for analysing ecotoxicity data. Ecological Modelling 416:108904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108904

More information including references can be found on: www.debtox.info and www.ecotoxmodels.org.

Course Schedule

TBA

Course Language

English

Course Format

Teaching will be a combination of lectures, computer exercises, pet projects, and discussions. Students can work on their own pet species and/or on literature data. Students can bring their own data for the pet projects and the report also, provided they are sufficiently relevant to the course contents.

Number of Credits [ECTS]

5 ECTS – Need to apply for credits through your own university

Type of Assessment

Written assignment
The final report must be handed in in time and be accepted by the course conveyors.

Costs

1000 DKK for online part only (13/9 - 13/10)
5000 DKK academia (MSc and PhD students)
15000 DKK industry

The price covers a full course including breakfast and lunch buffet at the course centre Danhostel Roskilde.

Please note that overnight accommodation are on the participants own expense.

1) no accommodation - NB. dinner at your own expense!
2) accommodation in shared room with 3-6 participants (including dinner) DKK 1500
3) accommodation in single room (including dinner) DKK 3000

Accommodation

see above

Health Insurance

Please find more information here: https://studies.ku.dk/visiting/practical-matters/

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