Collaborations

Ecotox is located in an ambitious surrounding at the Leiden University. It is an initiative of both institutes Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) and Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL).

Research at CML focuses on the impacts of chemical stressors at scales ranging from the organismal to community level. Ecotoxicological responses are combined with determining bioavailability, accumulation kinetics and target-oriented toxicological effects. Results are used to develop models that enable field assessments. These assessments explicitly include context-dependency and biological relationships into the risk predictions.

Research at IBL is focused on biological signal transduction functions at a molecular level. A central theme is the investigation of intercellular communication, particularly the communication of cells of one organism with another. For all biological research questions the zebrafish is now used as an animal model in combination with cell cultures and microbial-based techniques.

Most of the experimental research is performed at the Cell Observatory (CO). The CO is a shared facility for Life Science research of the Leiden University offering the benefits of shared high end bio-imaging and testing infrastructure.

Close collaboration on ecotoxicological research is established with:

• the National Institute for Human Health and the Environment (RIVM). RIVM contributes expertise on risk assessment and risk management.
• the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). The ecotoxicological work is closely linked to toxicogenetics.