HARMLESS M40 General Assembly in Copenhagen

On 9-10 April 2024, the whole HARMLESS Consortium met on its M40 for a General Assembly in Copenhagen (Denmark). The two-day meeting was filled with very interesting presentations showing the latest progress in the project, along with constructive and fruitful discussions on the next steps.

The assembly served as an excellent platform not only for showcasing the progress made in the different work packages in the last months but also for engaging in productive discussions to shape the project’s trajectory to define the next steps to be taken, ensuring a coordinated and strategic approach.

Special thanks to Sabine Halappanavar (Health Canada, EAB), member of HARMLESS’ Advisory Board, who travelled all the way from Canada to Copenhagen to give a powerful presentation on AOPs and their importance to the project, meet the entire consortium and guide us on our next steps in the coming months.

Additionally, HARMLESS’ Early Career Researchers took the initiative to organize an internal event with a Poster and Pitch Session, providing an opportunity for them to present their work. This session allowed these talented researchers to showcase their contributions and receive valuable feedback from the rest of the team. Thanks to Marion Blayac (HMGU) & Veronica Di Battista (BASF) for the overall organisation. This was our ECRs team:

• Marion Blayac (HMGU) – Pitch presentation entitled “Surface-based toxicity ranking of aerosolized NMs from epithelial cells exposed under ALI conditions”
• Jesper Baldtzer (NRCWE) – One poster entitled „Release Testing: The Aerogel case study“
• Veronica di Battista (BASF) – Two posters entitled “Oxide -perovskites for automotive catalysts bio-transform and induce multi-component clearance and hazard” and “Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design”
• Sian Brooks (SU) – Two posters entitled “In vitro assessment of MCNM and HARN – Perovskite Case Study” and “In Vitro assessment of MCNM and HARN – Benchmark Materials”

Special thanks to our NRCWE colleagues, Ulla Vogel and her team, for hosting the meeting at their facilities, ensuring enriching and vivid and smooth discussions. Their warm hospitality and effective organization contributed significantly to our successful meeting.