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On December 1-2, 2005, at Procter & Gamble, Brussels Innovation Center, we convened a scientific panel to train Pathway Prediction System (PPS) users, and discuss further development and future directions of the PPS.
The panel was composed of participants from the United States and Europe, representing academia, industry and government regulatory agencies (see below).
This second ALARM PPS Workshop was built on the outcome and implemented improvements of the first ALARM-PPS Workshop, held in Minneapolis in May 2005 with predominantly US-based experts.
Chemical companies, government regulators, and academic scientists all need to predict the metabolic fate of (new) chemicals in the environment.
The biodegradation knowledge needed includes the possible pathways of biodegradation, the likelihood of given pathways, and influences of environmental conditions.
As such, it was the goal of the 2nd ALARM-PPS Biodegradation Expert System Workshop to:
- Elicit knowledge from panel members to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the existing system,
- Prioritize future PPS developments,
- Decide on potential ways to validate such computer predictions, and
- Encourage further collaboration among the participants on this project.
The outcome of the workshop is:
- A series of recommendations for practical improvements and bug-fixing in the biochemical rules and pathways,
- A clearer view on the end user's priorities,
- An assessment of the most promising leads for further development of PPS, and
- A number of communication initiatives that aim to present the UMBBD-PPS to a broader audience.
We appreciate the efforts of the panel members who took the time to work on this project and we think that this concerted effort will really make an impact.
The financial support of the EU 6th Framework Programme Integrated Project ALARM is also acknowledged.
Workshop Participants
- Larry Wackett, U. Minnesota, USA
- Lynda Ellis, U. Minnesota, USA
- Joanna Jaworska, P&G, B
- Diederik Schowanek, P&G, B
- Kees van Ginkel, AkzoNobel, Nl
- Stefan Kramer, U. Munich, D
- Katrin Fenner, ETH/EAWAG, Ch
- Gyorgy Pyrok, ChemAxon Ltd, Hu
- Philip Judson, Lhasa Ltd, UK
- Bodo Philip, U. Konstanz, D
- Emiel Rorije, RIVM, Nl
- Tom Vandewiele, U. Gent, B
- Volker Hammen, UFZ Leizig/Halle, D
- Kenneth Timmis, TU Braunschweig, D
- Andreas Schmid, U. Dortmund, D
- Peter Reuschenbach, BASF, D
- Maurizio Silvani, BASF, D
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