IGF::OT::IGF "Support for Toxicological Data for the National Toxicology Program"

Vistronix, Inc., Reston VA

Investigators

Abstract

The NTP now studies environmental agents using a number of different study designs, from two-year carcinogenicity studies to multi-generational reproductive studies to short term targeted testing with transcriptomic endpoints to studies of cultured cells and model organisms. Data from these diverse studies are coming into the NTP at an ever-increasing rate. The NTP requires recommendations and support from experts knowledgeable about NTP study designs and NTP specifications for the conduct of studies as to how best to acquire this data while preserving its scientific meaning and information content. The NTP also requires recommendations based on toxicological understanding as to how best to properly analyze, meaningfully integrate, accurately present, and scientifically interpret this data. The primary purpose of this contract is to advance scientific and technical knowledge and apply that knowledge to the extent necessary to achieve the goals of the NTP. Because the NTP is continually evolving new methods, study designs, and technologies, the objectives for this contract can be described in general terms; however the work or methods cannot be precisely described in advance. It is difficult to judge the probabilities of success or required effort for technical approaches, some of which offer little or no early assurance of full success. For this to be successful, the government intends to provide an environment in which the work can be pursued with reasonable flexibility and minimum administrative burden. The objective of the Support for Toxicological Data contract is for Contractor to provide staff with the ability to apply sound scientific and toxicological principles and an intimate knowledge of NTP toxicological study designs to support the acquisition of data from NTP toxicological studies, the integration of the data across studies and toxicological domains, and the presentation of the data in a meaningful format for use in decision-making by NTP scientists, other government agencies and the public at large.