The International QSAR Foundation is the only nonprofit research organization devoted solely to creating alternative methods for identifying chemical hazards without further laboratory testing.

We develop, implement and support new QSAR technologies for use in regulation, research and education or wherever testing animals with chemicals is now required. QSAR models predict chemical behaviour directly from chemical structure. QSAR is used to predict chemical properties directly from chemical structure.

When combined with other alternative test methods, QSAR can minimize the the need for animal tests while making the use of chemical safer.

The Consortium for Skin-Sensitisation

The International QSAR Foundation is serving as a facilitator for a consortium on refining models of skin sensitisation. ExxonMobil, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, RIFM, and the Danish Institute for Toxicology and Risk Assessment are working together to refine the TIMES-SS model developed by the Laboratory of Mathematical Chemistry within the next two years. For additional information, please download The Consortium for Skin-Sensitisation.doc

QSAR Application Toolbox, Baltimore MD, 5-8 October 2009

We have now trained more than 100 scientists from Europe, Asia and the USA on OECD's QSAR Application Toolbox. We are pleased to announce the autumn training in Baltimore, MD to be held on October 5-6, 2009 for the basic training course and October 7-8, 2009, for the advanced training workshop. The Toolbox is available to the public as a free download from OECD. The International QSAR Foundation is coordinating with OECD, the developer of the Toolbox, and local organizers to make training available in a cost-recovery basis. If you would like to serve as an organizer for traisning in your geographic area, please contact Dr. Rosemarie Russo, Training Coordinator, at . Registration for the training is available through the International QSAR School been developed by IQF. Please contact Dr. Rosemarie Russo, Training Coordinator, if you have any questions about the registration process.

The McKim Conference on Predictive Toxicology, Duluth, MN

The 2008 McKim Conference provided illustrations of why QSAR models for complex effects endpoints required a knowledge of toxicity pathways in order to simulate the adverse effects of chemicals in animal tests. The 2008 McKim Conference also provided the basic structure of a visualization system for toxicity pathways which describes the biological effects linkages across different levels of biological organization. The International QSAR Foundation has created Effectopedia as a web-based tool to assist in the acquisition of biological response mechanisms and the associated biological knowledge bases which must be associated with these mechanisms to describe the most likely toxicity pathway. The next McKim Conference will be a "traveling" conference to demonstrate the use of Effectopedia with QSAR models and solicit expert volunteers to participate in compiling a biological database that is useful in modeling adverse effects across species and levels of biological observation. For more information on Effectopedia, please watch this website for announcements of the McKim Conference venues.