Evidence-based Toxicology

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/evidence-based-toxicology

Introduction

### Course Review: Evidence-based Toxicology on Coursera **Introduction** As a professional or enthusiast in the life sciences, you may understand the critical importance of reliable data in driving impactful decisions. The "Evidence-based Toxicology" (EBT) course, offered by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), dives deep into the cutting-edge methodologies that are transforming the field of toxicology by applying principles of evidence-based medicine. This course bridges a crucial gap by promoting transparency, objectivity, and scientific rigor in toxicological assessments, which have often been mired in traditional methodologies and biases. **Course Overview** The EBT course is structured to provide both a historical context and a practical skill set to address the contemporary challenges toxicology faces. The course unfolds over six modules, each tailored to introduce, dissect, and scrutinize different aspects of evidence-based approaches, culminating in a summative assessment that reinforces your learning through a hands-on systematic review project. **Module Breakdown** 1. **Introduction & Shortcomings of Current Approaches**: The course begins with an insightful overview of the current toxicological testing methods, shedding light on their limitations. This foundational understanding serves as the springboard for learners to appreciate the transformative potential of evidence-based toxicology. 2. **History and Causation**: An exploration of the origins of evidence-based toxicology, this module delves into distinguishing correlation from causation—a critical skill in research. The introduction of the Bradford Hill criteria provides a robust framework for evaluating evidence, enhancing critical thinking about data interpretation. 3. **Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis**: Here, the course demystifies systematic reviews and meta-analyses, providing step-by-step instructions based on real-world examples from the instructors’ research. This training equips learners to consolidate information and draw more reliable conclusions from existing studies. 4. **Risk of Bias & Application to Test Methods Comparison**: Bias is a pervasive issue in research, and this module educates about recognizing and mitigating biases at various stages of the scientific process. The case study on the zebrafish embryotoxicity test emphasizes practical application, providing learners with templates to conduct systematic reviews effectively. 5. **Quality Assurance, Good Practices, and Validation**: Quality control is essential in toxicological studies. This module highlights the significance of rigorous validation processes for alternative testing methods and provides strategies for maintaining high standards in experimental design. 6. **Biometrical Tools & Future Perspectives**: Merging toxicology with bioinformatics, this module introduces biostatistical tools critical for analyzing method efficacy. It addresses the reproducibility crisis in science—an essential concern in contemporary research—and how evidence-based principles can help alleviate this challenge. **Summative Assessment** The course culminates in a practical assignment where learners engage in a systematic review, applying the concepts learned throughout the course. The use of the SysRev platform to review and evaluate at least 20 abstracts reinforces the skills gained and fosters collaborative decision-making processes. **Final Thoughts and Recommendation** The "Evidence-based Toxicology" course on Coursera is an invaluable resource for those looking to enhance their knowledge and skills in toxicology. It is suited for professionals, researchers, students, and anyone committed to understanding and applying evidence-based methodologies in life sciences. By the end of this course, you will have a sharpened ability to critically assess toxicological studies, identify biases, and apply systematic review methodologies, empowering you to play a role in advancing scientific integrity in toxicology. Enrolling in this course is highly recommended for its comprehensive content, expert instruction, and practical applications that foresee the future direction of toxicology. It’s an investment in your professional development that will equip you with the tools necessary to contribute to the field in a meaningful way.

Syllabus

Introduction & Shortcomings of Current Approaches

This module introduces you to the course, outlines the shortcomings of current toxicity testing approaches, and shows how EBT can help to overcome these shortcomings.

This module explains how evidence-based toxicology originated and describes the driving forces for the initiative. In the second lesson, you will learn how to distinguish between correlation and causation as well as the main problems with drawing conclusions on the basis of correlations. The Bradford Hill criteria are introduced, along with examples for each criterion. You will also learn about mechanistic toxicology and mechanistic validation.

This module shows how to perform systematic reviews and meta-analyses. You will learn the history of both methods and will receive step-by-step instructions on how to perform systematic reviews and meta-analyses using examples from the research activities of the instructors.

This module teaches you about possible biases that can be introduced at different stages of research. Each bias is explained with examples, including solutions for overcoming those biases. The second lesson covers systematic review of the zebrafish embryotoxicity test as a case study conducted by the Evidence-based Toxicology Collaboration (EBTC). You will go through all of the steps of the systematic review again to imprint the knowledge from module 3, but this systematic review will be related to a toxicological method.

Quality control is a very important aspect of not only modern toxicology but the entirety of life sciences. The first lesson in this module demonstrates the importance of performing quality control on your experiments. The second lesson is connected with the first one because validation of an alternative method requires highly standardized protocols and quality control at each step. This lesson teaches you different aspects of alternatives methods validation, how to perform classical validation, its pitfalls, and strategies to overcome them.

Evidence-based toxicology requires some knowledge of bioinformatics. The first lesson in the module teaches you some biostatistical tools you can apply when analyzing predectivity, specificity, and sensitivity of a method. You will also learn how to identify biases in a study with the help of bioinformatics. Evidence-based principles can be applied to every question you might have, even to which pizza to order tonight. You will learn the difference between eminence-based vs. evidence-based approaches. You will learn what is driving the lack of reproducibility and how evidence-based approaches should help to overcome the reproducibility crisis in science, which is explained with examples of experimental design, wrong models, poor quality of the cell cultures, etc.

The final week of the course is devoted to completing the Systematic Review Assignment. You will use SysRev to review at least 20 abstracts, apply inclusion and exclusion criteria, render decisions, and resolve conflicts with other reviewers.