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The purpose of toxicology is to protect human health and the environment. To support this, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), operating via its Extended Advisory Group for Molecular Screening and Toxicogenomics (EAGMST), has been developing the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) approach to consolidate evidence for chemical toxicity spanning multiple levels of biological organization. The knowledge transcribed into AOPs provides a structured framework to transparently organize data, examine the weight of evidence of the AOP, and identify causal relationships between exposure to stressors and adverse effects of regulatory relevance. The AOP framework has undergone substantial maturation in the field of hazard characterization of chemicals over the last decade, and has also recently gained attention from the radiation community as a means to advance the mechanistic understanding of human and ecological health effects from exposure to ionizing radiation at low dose and low dose-rates. To fully exploit the value of such approaches for facilitating risk assessment and management in the field of radiation protection, solicitation of experiences and active cooperation between chemical and radiation communities are needed. As a result, the Radiation and Chemical (Rad/Chem) AOP joint topical group was formed on June 1, 2021 as part of the initiative from the High Level Group on Low Dose Research (HLG-LDR). HLG-LDR is overseen by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH). The main aims of the joint AOP topical group are to advance the use of AOPs in radiation research and foster broader implementation of AOPs into hazard and risk assessment. With global representation, it serves as a forum to discuss, identify and develop joint initiatives that support research and take on regulatory challenges.

In Beaton et al., (2020), a cross-sectional study design was used to demonstrate that levels of self-compassion were lower in people with high traits of ADHD, compared to people with low traits of ADHD. This was partially explained by the levels of criticism that participants perceived. However, there are a number of restrictions with this study design. For example, the study relies on explicit measures that are vulnerable to a number of biases including recall bias, social-desirability, self-deceptive positivity and common method bias. Yet, trait self-compassion is viewed as an implicit - unconscious, habitual and automatic trait, which influences individuals to be more accepting and less judgemental towards intrinsic and extrinsic stressors. Therefore, we argue that a measure of self-compassion should be attainable through an implicit task, that is free from the interference of conscious cognition observed in explicit measures. Moreover, the study measured perceived criticism, and therefore it is inconclusive whether self-compassion is associated with levels of criticism perceived or objective levels of criticism. Consequently, the proposed study will use an experimental design to expand on the initial findings of Beaton et al., (2020) in two ways; firstly, it aims to determine if self-compassion is lower at a trait level in people with ADHD and secondly, it aims to manipulate levels of criticism to observe if there is a direct effect of criticism on implicit self-compassion.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are formed as a result of natural cellular processes, intracellular signaling, or as adverse responses associated with diseases or exposure to oxidizing chemical and non-chemical stressors. The action of ROS and RNS, collectively referred to as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), has recently become highly relevant in a number of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) that capture, organize, evaluate and portray causal relationships pertinent to adversity or disease progression. RONS can potentially act as a key event (KE) in the cascade of responses leading to an adverse outcome (AO) within such AOPs, but are also known to modulate responses of events along the AOP continuum without being an AOP event itself. A substantial discussion has therefore been undertaken in a series of workshops named “Mystery or ROS” to elucidate the role of RONS in disease and adverse effects associated with exposure to stressors such as nanoparticles, chemical, and ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. This review introduces the background for RONS production, reflects on the direct and indirect effects of RONS, addresses the diversity of terminology used in different fields of research, and provides guidance for developing a harmonized approach for defining a common event terminology within the AOP developer community.

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The AOP framework has undergone substantial maturation in the field of hazard characterization of chemicals over the last decade, and has also recently gained attention from the radiological protection and research communities as a means to advance the mechanistic understanding of human and ecological health effects from exposure to ionizing radiation at low dose and low dose-rates. To fully exploit the value of such approaches for facilitating risk assessment and management in the field of radiation protection, solicitation of experiences and active cooperation between chemical and radiation communities are needed. As a result, the Radiation and Chemical (Rad/Chem) AOP joint topical group was formed on June 1, 2021 as part of the initiative from the High Level Group on Low Dose Research (HLG-LDR). HLG-LDR is overseen by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on Radiological Protection and Public Health (CRPPH). The main aims of the joint AOP topical group are to advance the use of AOPs in radiation research and foster broader implementation of AOPs into hazard and risk assessment. With global representation, it serves as a forum to discuss, identify and develop joint initiatives that support research and take on regulatory challenges. The Rad/Chem AOP joint topical group aims to actively liaise with the OECD EAGMST AOP developmental program to collectively advance areas of common interest and, specifically, provide recommendations for harmonization of the AOP framework to accommodate non-chemical stressors, such as radiation. The current presentation will provide an overview of the mission and work of the Topical Group., The 1st Adverse Outcome Pathways Community of Practice Symposium 2022