Meet our Scientific Advisory Board: interview with Nathalie Burden

Natalie Burden, Programme Manager, NC3Rs. Natalie leads programmes on toxicology and regulatory sciences focusing on the 3Rs in environmental testing.

What is your field of expertise?

I have nine years’ experience in leading scientific, data driven projects to support application of the 3Rs – the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of animals in research – in regulatory ecotoxicology. Through co-ordination of cross-sector working group initiatives, this work has provided evidence bases to reduce and refine the use of vertebrate animals in safety testing, and has resulted in change being made at a policy level. For more information see the NC3Rs Environmental Safety Testing resource page.

What do you expect from PREMIER?

I would really like to PREMIER to establish of robust approaches that prioritize the generation of data on legacy pharmaceuticals from in vivo tests, so that such testing is only conducted when it is necessary and adds value to the safety assessment process. It is imperative that the successful approaches developed in PREMIER to this end will be accepted by the relevant regulatory authorities.

Why did you agree to be part of the SAB?

I was extremely interested to hear more about the work being conducted within PREMIER, and to be able to offer my expertise around applying the 3Rs in fish testing to support the project. These collaborative large-scale projects always have such amazing potential due to the vast and broad expertise within them, and I am always keen to learn more! My projects have traditionally been focused on testing of agrochemicals and industrial chemicals, so this was a great initiative to become part of.

What do you think are the current gaps in the/your field that PREMIER could fulfil?

The approaches being developed within PREMIER hold great promise for a robust and practical approach to the safety assessment of legacy pharmaceuticals, whilst utilizing fewer vertebrate animals in the process. The biggest hurdle will be having these approaches taken up and accepted in practice.

How could society at large benefit from the PREMIER products?

A more thorough and robust safety assessment process will better protect the environment from the potential effects of legacy pharmaceuticals. The use of fewer animals to achieve this in a scientifically-informed manner, whilst continuing to maintain protection goals, will help to address societal concerns around the use of animals in the ecotoxicological testing process.