14 Feb 2025

Prof. Ellen Fritsche has been awarded with the Poulsson Prize

The Poulsson prize is a recognition of the substantial contribution that Professor Dr. Ellen Fritsche has made to the scientific development of the field of toxicology and as an inspirer also in Norway. The Norwegian Society for Pharmacology and Toxicology (NSPT) invited her to give her Poulsson-lecture in Norway which she did on 25 January 2025 at the NSFT Winter Meeting in Beitostølen.

Prof. Ellen Fritsche has contributed to the scientific development of alternative methods to traditional animal tests, especially of methods for studying neurotoxicity during development. Furthermore, she has brought such methods into the process in the OECD system for international accept of such methods. She has inspired Norwegian scientists to go into research concerning these methods. She leads and participates in big international research projects and has authorised more than 90 scientific papers, as well as scientific opinions and text book chapters.

See further information.

Ellen Fritsche's response:

"I feel very honored to be awarded with the Norwegian Poulsson Prize. With this prize, not only me, but also the Developmental Neurotoxicity (DNT) in vitro battery and most importantly all the students, postdocs, as well as the national and international collaborators are recognized. My work in the field of neurotoxicity has been a great team effort and I am very grateful that innovation, vision and carrying the work through on the technical level has brought us to where we are now.

Also the contributions of the European Food Safety Authority EFSA, the US Environmental Protection Agency USEPA and the OECD have been incredibly supportive and helpful. The journey does not end here but we are further striving for the protection of children`s brains by providing methods that allow faster and more cost-effective evaluation of chemicals for their potential to interfere with the development of the brain. I am deeply thankful for receiving this recognition of the Norwegian Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology for my work".