23rd International Congress of the European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV 2026)
The 23rd ESTIV Meeting is being held on 29 June – 2 July 2026 in Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Unilever is sponsoring the 23rd ESTIV Congress, an event that brings together the toxicology community to advance in vitro and in silico approaches. ESTIV Congress provides a collaborative platform to share scientific innovation, discuss regulatory progress, and strengthen connections across academia, industry, and government, supporting the transition towards non-animal methodologies and modern safety assessment.
Unilever SERS scientists have co-authored six oral, one poster presentations and will be co-chairing two sessions – details below:
Scientific sessions: Oral presentations
Monday, June 29th, 2026
16:30-18:30: Session 1 – We know many of the barriers to adoption of NAMs, but what are the solutions?
Presenter: Andy White - Accelerating regulatory use of NAMs & NGRA: commission roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessment
Tuesday, June 30th, 2026
Theme: Regulatory Foundations & Standards
14:30-16:00: Session 4 – Track A: Parameterisation of physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) modelling for NGRA: designed to be protective
Presenter: Ans Punt – Best practices in physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modelling for next generation risk assessment (NGRA)
14:30-16:00: Session 4 – Track B: Evolution of an OECD test guideline and application beyond; Integrated NAMs for skin sensitisation hazard and point of departure for risk assessment
Presenter: Predrag Kukic – SARA-ICE DA: defining a PoD for skin sensitisation risk assessment
Wednesday, July 1st, 2026
Theme: Applications and collaboration — Food, Environment & Therapeutics
14:00-15:30 Session 8 – Track A: Systemic effects evaluation using NAM toolboxes – real-world cases, co-chair: Predrag Kukic (Unilever)
Presenter: Predrag Kukic – Building confidence in non-animal safety frameworks for systemic toxicity
14:00-15:30 Session 8 – Track B: Towards robust and reliable in vitro models for developmental and reproductive toxicology
Presenter: Ans Punt – Dose response modelling and transferability of ReproTracker – an industry perspective
Thursday, July 2nd, 2026
Theme: Advanced Methods, AI, Inhalation Toxicology
09:00-11:00: Session 11 – Track A: Advances & challenges in high throughput transcriptomics for risk assessment, co-chairs: Andrew White (Unilever) & Luiz Ladeira (Université de Liège, Belgium)
Presenter: Andrew White - Learning from industry case studies: Addressing the challenges in reliability and uncertainty in the implementation of toxicogenomics
Poster Presentation:
Poster P114 - ICCS best practice guidance document for serious eye damage and eye irritation assessment using new approach methodologies for substances in cosmetics and personal care products
Authors: Takayuki Abo1, Els Adriaens2, Nathalie Alépée3, Lauren Brown4, Alessandra Cavarzan5, Neepa Choksi4, Renato Ivan de Ávila6, Carolin Goebel7, Donna S. Macmillan8, Karsten R. Mewes9, Chelsea O’Driscoll10
1Kao Corporation, Japan; 2Adriaens Consulting, Belgium; 3L’Oréal Research & Innovation, France; 4ToxStrategies LLC, USA; 5Reckitt Benckiser, Italy; 6SERS, Unilever; 7Beiersdorf AG, Germany; 8International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety, USA; 9Henkel, Germany; 10Procter & Gamble, USA