The German PARC National Hub
The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) aims to improve chemical risk assessment across Europe by drawing on expertise beyond the PARC consortium. To broaden the expertise for PARC, each EU member state is expected to involve dedicated expert committees known as National Hubs (NHs).
These NHs will help build interdisciplinary networks of national risk assessors and regulatory bodies, working together to set long-term scientific and innovative priorities for chemical risk assessment.
The German PARC National Hub
About the German PARC National Hub
The German PARC National Hub (PARC-NH) serves as the national advisory body for chemical risk assessment and related research. The PARC-NH combines expertise from a variety of fields, including representatives of research institutes, authorities, ministries, and industry professionals. The PARC-NH supports the scientific work within PARC from a German perspective and helps ensure that regulatory-relevant findings are effectively fed back into national decision-making processes. At the same time, it fosters synergies with existing initiatives and strengthens the visibility of German expertise in chemical assessment at the European level.
Tasks of the German PARC-NH
The tasks of the PARC-NH include discussing the results of PARC at the national level. Moreover, additional knowledge, new issues and current needs from Germany will be brought into the European partnership. As part of this, members of the PARC-NH also respond to various surveys and requests from PARC partners.
Additionally, PARC results are also to be communicated to the public. Annual stakeholder dialogues are organized in order to publicly discuss emerging issues and share knowledge and methods.
Composition and chair
Members of the German PARC-NH come from universities, research institutions, and regulatory authorities. They are appointed to the PARC-NH on the basis of their respective personal scientific expertise. Representatives from the relevant ministries are permanent guests of the PARC-NH, acting as a key liaison to the PARC Governing Board (GB). The PARC-NH is organized into two thematic groups, so called sub-hubs:
The “Human Tox” sub-hub, under the technical authority of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, addresses issues related to human-relevant toxicology, human exposure, and chemical risk assessment.
The “Human Biomonitoring/Environment” sub-hub, overseen by the UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency, focuses on environmental risk assessment, monitoring, and human biomonitoring (HBM). Further information about the “Human Biomonitoring/Environment” sub-hub can be found on the External Link:UBA website.
The management of the German PARC National Hub is shared by the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency. Together, they also serve as the German National Hub Contact Point (NHCP) for PARC. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (External Link:BMFTR) supports the coordination of the PARC-NHCP through a joint project involving the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency (funding code 01DT21043A).
A detailed overview of the tasks and structure of the German PARC-NH is available External Link:here (PDF, 1 B, not barrier-free).
| Chair | Prof. Dr. Wim Wätjen (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) |
|---|---|
| Vice Chair | Dr. Holger Koch (Dr. Holger Koch (Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bonn) |
| Management | Dr. Luam Ghebreghiorghis (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) Dr. Jessica Baesler (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) Philipp Weise (UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency) |
| Contact | parc-bfr@bfr.bund.de and parc@uba.de |
Scientific and administrative representatives of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
| Dr. Tewes Tralau, Vice-President, Scientific project lead and member of the Grant Signatory Board |
| Dr. Philip Marx-Stölting, Head of the Unit Testing and Assessment Strategies Pesticides Co-Lead Work Package 5 “Hazard Assessment” and member of the Management Board |
| Dr. Matthias Herzler, Head of the Unit Coordination and Assessment Strategies Co-Lead Task „Knowledge Management and Uptake into policy“ |
| Dr. Luam Ghebreghiorghis, research associate, Unit Research Strategy and Coordination Co-Management of the German PARC-NH (by BfR) |
| Dr. Jessica Baesler, research associate, Unit Research Strategy and Coordination Co-Management of the German PARC-NH (by BfR) |
| Dr. Katja Leicht, research associate, Unit Research Strategy and Coordination Administrative project lead und participation in the Task „Sustainability“ |
Detailed information about BfR’s wide range of tasks and participation in PARC can be found External Link:here.
Members and expertise of the “Human Tox” sub-hub
The “Human Tox” sub-hub focuses on PARC-relevant issues in human-relevant toxicology, human exposure, and chemical risk assessment. The expertise within this advisory body is highly diverse in these areas, providing a strong foundation for consultation and discussion across work packages (WPs) at the national level. The majority of the sub-hub members are involved in the work of PARC WP 5 "Hazard Assessment"(*). External experts are also part of the sub-hub (1).
| Chair | PD Dr. Robert Landsiedel (BASF SE) |
|---|---|
| Vice-Chair | Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Hartung (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of Konstanz, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) |
| Technical responsibility | BfR |
| Contact | parc-bfr@bfr.bund.de |
Sub-Hub „Human Tox“
The following individuals are involved in the sub-hub "Human Tox":
- Dr. Philipp Antczak *
University of Cologne (UKK), Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) - Prof. Dr. Jörg Fahrer *
RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau - Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Hartung 1
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of Konstanz, (CAAT)
Vice-Chair of the sub-hub “Human Tox” - Prof. Dr. Marcel Leist *
University of Konstanz, (CAAT) - Prof. Dr. Michael Schwarz 1
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen - Prof. Dr. Roderich Süssmuth*
Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) - Prof. Dr. Wim Wätjen *
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)
Chair of the PARC-NH
- Dr. Sylvia Escher *
Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM) - Prof. Dr. Jan Hengstler *
Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) - Dr. Katharina Koch *
Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (IUF) - Prof. Dr. Bettina Seeger *
University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo) - PD Dr. Carsten Weiss *
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- Dr. Christine Herrington 1
Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM)
permanent guest status:
- Dr. Wiebke Prutner
Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM)
permanent guest status:
- Dr. Alexandra Makulla
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH), Referat 311 „One Health, Koordinierung und Digitalisierung der Abteilung 3, Bürokratieabbau“ - Dr. David Butler Manning
BMLEH, Referat 123 „Forschung und Innovation, Koordination des Forschungsbereiches“
- PD Dr. Robert Landsiedel 1
BASF SE, Chair of the PARC Sub-Hub „Human Tox“
News
Second biannual meeting of the German PARC National Hub on November 28, 2024 in Berlin
During the hybrid meeting, the German PARC-National Hub discussed results of PARC projects and identified new topics for further development. The PARC-NH in Germany has a broad range of expertise, which is built from the specialized knowledge of relevant authorities and stakeholders involved in the national risk assessment of chemicals. This includes representatives from the External Link:BfR and the UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency, PARC partner institutions, and external experts. BMELshort forGerman Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, BMUV, and BAuA expand the committee's expertise.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Zweite halbjährliche Sitzung des deutschen PARC National Hub am 28. November 2024 in Berlin](/assets/_processed_/5/2/csm_20250117_PARC-NH_Gruppenfoto_edFSK22_2_67dbecaab7.jpg "[Translate to Englisch:] Gruppenfoto PARC NH")
![[Translate to Englisch:] 2. Deutscher PARC-Stakeholder-Dialog „Risikobewertung von Chemikaliengemischen“ am 27. November 2024 in Berlin](/assets/_processed_/8/e/csm_241127_PARC_Stakeholder_Dialog_6610_feb2efee9b.png)
2nd German PARC Stakeholder Dialogue “Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures” on November 27, 2024 in Berlin
For this dialogue, the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency invited scientists, stakeholders and representatives from politics to the 2nd German PARC Stakeholder Dialogue. The event highlighted the current scientific status of chemical mixtures and the regulatory context from the perspective of human and environmental toxicology. Regulatory framework conditions, challenges and opportunities were presented and discussed interactively with participants both on-site and online.
For the report of the 2nd German PARC Stakeholder Dialogue “Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures”, please click External Link:here (PDF, 620 B, not accessible).