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BTS Annual Congress 2026 and Joint BTS–SETAC UK Workshop

BTS Annual Congress 2026 and Joint BTS–SETAC UK Satellite Workshop, co-sponsored by Unilever, is being held on 27th - 29th April, at VOCO St John’s Hotel, Solihull, UK.

The BTS Congress brings together experts from academia, industry, healthcare, regulatory and governmental organisations with a shared passion for toxicology. It offers an excellent opportunity to network, exchange ideas and explore new developments, with a comprehensive three-day programme covering all aspects of toxicology.

In an exciting collaboration, the BTS and Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry United Kingdom Regional Branch (SETAC UK) are also hosting a joint workshop on science shaping regulation, focused on animal-free, exposure-driven approaches for UK environmental safety, bringing together academia, government and industry.

BTS Event logo and SETAC logo

BTS Annual Congress 2026

Monday, 27th April
19:30 – 21:00 - Networking session – Hazard Ahead!
Hosted by the BTS Network for Early-Stage Toxicologists (NEST), including Mesha Williams (Unilever)

Tuesday, 28th April
13:45 – 15:00 - Oral Communications session 1
Chairs: Barbara Kubickova (Syngenta) & Mesha Williams (Unilever)

Oral communication: Reassessing the role of in vivo fish testing in chemical risk assessment.
Authors: Richa Malik1, Bruno Campos2, Claudia Rivetti2, Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci1, Christer Hogstrand1
1King's College London; 2Unilever

15:30 – 17:30 - Symposium 5: ‘Omics technologies taking risk assessment into the 21st century.
Hosted by the Risk Assessment speciality section. Chairs: Susy Brescia (Health & Safety Executive) & Georgia Reynolds (Unilever)

Wednesday, 29th April
09:30 – 11:15 - Symposium 6: Towards practical application of next generation risk assessment for assuring environmental safety
Hosted by the Ecotoxicology speciality section in collaboration with SETAC UK
Presentation – Claudia Rivetti (Unilever): A framework for environmental NGRA with example case studies (PDF 3.05 MB)

Joint BTS - SETAC UK Workshop Programme

Wednesday, 29th April

14:00 – 14:45
Workshop introduction: Geoff Hodges (Unilever/SETAC UK)
Presentations to set the scene:

  • Anthony Holmes (NC3Rs/Office for Life Sciences): UK progress towards non-animal research and testing - the Government's alternative methods strategy
  • Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci (King’s College London): The evolving role of environmental chemical safety assessment: from observation to prediction
  • Sam Harrison (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK-CEH): "Next Generation Environmental Exposure Modelling: Bridging Science and Regulation"
  • Natalie Burden (NC3Rs/BTS): setting the workshop charge: "If we could start from scratch and apply today’s scientific and technological advances, how would we design the most robust and protective environmental safety regulatory framework?"

14:45 – 16:00 - Interactive breakout group discussions on the charge, covering five focus topic areas:

  • Role of hazard characterisation/NAMs and internal exposure information, facilitated by Natalie Burden (NC3Rs) & Jacob-Joe Collins (Unilever)
  • Role of external exposure/modelling, facilitated by Laura Carter (University of Leeds) & Simran Sandhu (Unilever)
  • Incorporation of new science and transparency in decision-making in the paradigm, facilitated by Amy Marriott (NC3Rs)
  • Translation of a new paradigm to policy, facilitated by Emma Marczylo (UK HSA) & Geoff Hodges (Unilever)
  • Role of AI in the new paradigm, facilitated by Tom Miller (Brunel University) & Paul Thomas (KreatiS)

16:15 – 17:00 - Plenary discussion, including what next steps are necessary to continue these discussions following the workshop, chaired by Tom Miller (Brunel University/SETAC UK)

17:00 – 18:00 - Wrap up & poster networking session

Unilever poster presentations

  1. Development of Acute-to-Chronic Ratios (ACRs) to Support Ecotoxicity Prediction for Surfactants. (PDF 2.54 MB)
    Authors: Baile Xu1, Simran Sandhu1, Homa Basiri2, Jayne Roberts1, Geoff Hodges1, Mark T.D. Cronin2, James W. Firman2
    1    SERS, Unilever; 2Liverpool John Moores University
  2. A Theoretical Protein Surface-Binding Model for Toxicokinetic Predictions in Aquatic Species. (PDF 661.55 KB)
    Authors: Jacob-Joe Collins1, Tymoteusz Pietrenko1, Joe Reynolds1, Bruno Campos1, Patrik Engi1, and George Fitton1
    1    SERS, Unilever
  3. High Granularity Data Powering a Tiered Framework for NGRA Environmental Exposure Modelling. (PDF 3.11 MB)
    Authors: Juliet Hodges1, Simran Sandhu1, Baile Xu1,and Jin Li1
    1    SERS, Unilever
  4. Reassessing the role of in vivo fish testing in chemical risk assessment.
    Authors: Richa Malik1, Bruno Campos2, Claudia Rivetti2, Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci1, Christer Hogstrand1
    1    King's College London; 2SERS, Unilever

Related Links:

https://www.thebts.org/events/bts-annual-congress-2026/

https://www.setac.org/discover-events/ems-event-calendar/joint-bts-setac-uk-workshop.html

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