About:
The next KE Hub online Triage Workshop will be presented by Syngenta.
Nonlinear toxicokinetic modelling – can mathematics allow analytical insight?
ToxicoKinetic (TK) models are an important class of ordinary differential equation (ODE) based models that are useful for predicting internal dose for chemical risk assessment applications. These models help to understand the effect of the chemical on the body by analysing its absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties. These effects are typically summarized using TK parameters such as clearance and volume of distribution which are useful for understanding the effects of a chemical on the body. TK models can range in complexity from ODE models with a single compartment to models containing hundreds of compartments. Each type of model from the simplest, one-compartment model, to more complex models have their own applications and can be used to gain valuable information from toxicokinetic data.
This triage workshop relates to the ‘top down’ use of TK models – wherein the models are built based on fitting an ODE model to observed toxicokinetic data. Simple analysis of the data (referred to as non-compartmental analysis) can reveal whether the terms in the underlying ODE model should be linear or nonlinear. There is a plethora of literature on simple analytical approaches to understand and utilise the linear case but not the nonlinear case and the aim of this workshop is to explore whether advances can be made to extend the analysis into the nonlinear regime. Currently, a thorough fitting and analysis of a nonlinear TK model takes significant time. An advance in this area would significantly reduce this time investment and support more rapid, data informed decision making to support safe chemical design.
Academic mathematical scientists from KE Hub partner university departments are invited to take part in these workshops. If you would like to attend, please contact your local KE Champion to receive the meeting link or get in touch with the organisers, Lauren Hyndman and Diwei Zhou.
KE Hub Triage Workshops are informal discussion sessions where one B.I.G. Partner presents a challenge they are currently facing, with the aim of determining:
- What, if any, mathematical sciences approaches can be used to address the challenge?
- Who from the mathematical sciences community would like to take on the challenge?
- What mechanisms are most appropriate for driving the challenge forward?
The purpose of these workshops is to allow the B.I.G. Partner to engage directly with academic mathematical scientists to probe the scientific content of their proposed challenge. The environment is relaxed and interactive, and we encourage questions, clarifications and discussions throughout. You can find information on all upcoming and past workshops here.