Superfund Research Program

Chiu’s SRP-funded research focuses on developing data-driven approaches for predicting the human health effects of environmental exposures. (Photo courtesy of Texas A&M)

A new report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides recommendations for implementing new approach methodologies (NAMs) in human health risk assessments. The committee that developed the report, which was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), included several SRP grant recipients.

Cell-based experiments, fish embryo studies, and models that use artificial intelligence are just a few examples of alternative techniques, also known as NAMs, that can provide insight into the health effects of chemical exposures. NAMs are not necessarily new to science but rather to the field of human health risk assessment.

“This was a request from EPA to try to bridge this gap between the development of these different novel approaches and their application in risk assessment,” said Committee Chair Weihsueh Chiu, Ph.D., a researcher at the Texas A&M University SRP Center.

To learn more, see the NIEHS Environmental Factor newsletter.