Björn Ekwall

Björn Ekwall (13 June 1940 – 19 August 2000) was a Swedish cell toxicologist, known for his pioneering work in in vitro toxicology.[1][2]

Biography

Ekwall was born in Uppsala in 1940. He studied at Uppsala University Medical School and got his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1969. After a short time, he served as a lecturer at the Department of Anatomy at Uppsala University. He completed his PhD at the same university and was a postdoc for six months at Materials Science Technology Laboratories, Memphis, Tennessee, between 1981 and 1982.

During 1982-1983 he worked as a consultant at the Toxicology Laboratory of the Swedish Food Administration. In 1983 he founded the Cytotoxicology Laboratory (CTLU) in Uppsala.[3][4]

Selected work and publications

Ekwall is known for his two main projects: Multicentre Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) and Evaluation-Guided Development of In Vitro Toxicity and Toxicokinetic Tests (EDIT) which became basis for later international EU projects such as ACuteTox, Sens-it-iv and ReProTect. MEIC evaluated the usefulness of in vitro tests for the estimation of human acute systemic toxicity. Started in 1999, the purpose of EDIT was to establish and validate in vitro tests relevant to toxicokinetics and for organ-specific toxicity, to be incorporated into optimal test batteries for the estimation of human acute systemic toxicity.[5][6][7]

He has authored and co-authored many publications, including the following:[8]

  • Toxicity to HeLa cells of 205 drugs as determined by the metabolic inhibition test supplemented by microscopy, Toxicology, 17 (1980), pp. 273–295
  • Preliminary studies on the validity of in vitro measurement of drug toxicity using HeLa cells II. Drug toxicity in the MIT-24 system compared with mouse and human lethal dosage of 52 drug, Toxicology Letters, 5 (1980), pp. 309–317
  • MEIC- a new international multicenter project to evaluate the relevance to human toxicity of in vitro cytotoxicity tests, Cell Biology and Toxicology, 5 (1989), pp. 331–347
  • Overview of the final MEIC results II. The in vitro/in vivo evaluation, including a selection of a practical battery of cell tests for prediction of acute lethal blood concentrations in human, Toxicology in Vitro, 13 (1999), pp. 665–673
  • EDIT: a new international multicenter program to develop and evaluate batteries of in vitro tests for acute and chronic systematic toxicity, ATLA, 27 (1999), pp. 339–349

Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF)

The foundation was established in 2001 by the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology (SSCT) in memory of Björn Ekwall.[9] The foundation rewards Björn Ekwall Memorial Award (BEMA) to the scientist from around the world each year for excellent work in cell toxicology contributing towards the replacement of animal experiments by alternative toxicity tests and approaches.[10][11][12]

Recipients of Björn Ekwall Memorial Award (BEMA)

So far, the following scientists have received the BEMA.[13]

Sr. No. Name of the recipient Country Year
1 Maria José Gómez-Lechón Spain 2002
2 Per Kjellstrand Sweden 2003
3 Hanna Tähti Finland 2004
4 Hasso Seibert and Michael Gülden Germany 2005
5 Cecilia Clemedson Sweden 2006
6 Rodger Curren USA 2007
7 Erik Walum Sweden 2008
8 Annalaura Stammati Italy 2009
9 Richard Clothier UK 2010
10 Päivi Myllynen Finland 2011
11 Horst Spielmann Germany 2012
12 Per Artursson Sweden 2013
13 Tuula Heinonen Finland 2014
14 Michael Balls UK 2015
15 Vera Rogiers Belgium 2016
16 Thomas Hartung USA 2017
17 Anna Forsby Sweden 2018
18 Jan Van der Valk The Netherlands 2019
19 Sandra Coecke Italy 2020/21
20 Helena Kandarova Slovakia 2022

References
  1. Kolman, A. (2010). "[Björn Ekwall and his contribution to modern cell toxicology]". Tsitologiia. 52 (10): 888–890, inside back cover. ISSN 0041-3771. PMID 21268847.
  2. Kolman, A (2010-01-01). "Björn Ekwall and his contribution to modern cell toxicology". Tsitologiia. 52 (10): 888–90, inside back cover. PMID 21268847.
  3. "Remember of a pioneer in the field of in vitro toxicology AATEX Vo1_12(2)". www.asas.or.jp. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  4. "New England Anti-Vivisection Society", Wikipedia, 2022-04-30, retrieved 2022-05-12
  5. Clemedson, Cecilia; Nordin-Andersson, Marika; Bjerregaard, Henning F.; Clausen, Jørgen; Forsby, Anna; Gustafsson, Helena; Hansson, Ulrika; Isomaa, Boris; Jørgensen, Carsten; Kolman, Ada; Kotova, Natalia (May–June 2002). "Development of an in vitro test battery for the estimation of acute human systemic toxicity: An outline of the EDIT project. Evaluation-guided Development of New In Vitro Test Batteries". Alternatives to Laboratory Animals: ATLA. 30 (3): 313–321. doi:10.1177/026119290203000309. ISSN 0261-1929. PMID 12106010. S2CID 22632144.
  6. Walum, Eric; Tähti, Hanna; Kolman, Ada (September 2011). "The tenth anniversary of the Björn Ekwall memorial foundation". Alternatives to Laboratory Animals: ATLA. 39 (4): 389–402. doi:10.1177/026119291103900413. ISSN 0261-1929. PMID 21942549. S2CID 45480911.
  7. Clemedson, Cecilia; Nordin-Andersson, Marika; Bjerregaard, Henning F.; Clausen, Jørgen; Forsby, Anna; Gustafsson, Helena; Hansson, Ulrika; Isomaa, Boris; Jørgensen, Carsten; Kolman, Ada; Kotova, Natalia (1 May 2002). "Development of an In Vitro Test Battery for the Estimation of Acute Human Systemic Toxicity: An Outline of the EDIT Project". Alternatives to Laboratory Animals. 30 (3): 313–321. doi:10.1177/026119290203000309. ISSN 0261-1929. PMID 12106010. S2CID 22632144.
  8. "Björn Ekwall's research works | Uppsala University, Uppsala (UU) and other places". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  9. "Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF)". bemf.herokuapp.com. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  10. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/messages/downloadsexceeded.html. Retrieved 2022-05-16. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. Walum, Erik; Tähti, Hanna; Kolman, Ada (1 September 2011). "The Tenth Anniversary of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation". Alternatives to Laboratory Animals. 39 (4): 389–402. doi:10.1177/026119291103900413. ISSN 0261-1929. PMID 21942549. S2CID 45480911.
  12. Fano, Alix (1 May 1997). Lethal Laws: Animal Testing, Human Health and Environmental Policy. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-85649-498-4.
  13. "Dr. Helena Kandarova is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2022". European Society of Toxicology In Vitro. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
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