Yesterday, the state of Arkansas and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) signed an agreement as part of the NCTR’s 40th anniversary celebration, to establish a virtual Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the FDA and a state, a first ever to establish a joint center to enhance regulatory science, sets the core structure for joint research, educational training, collaborations and outreach in support of the FDA’s mission to protect and promote public health.

The memorandum will also elect a committee including state government representatives and academic institutions as partners with the FDA, which will be co-chaired by NCTR and the state of Arkansas.

The memorandum was signed by FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, and NCTR Director William Slikker, Ph.D. during the ceremonies to mark NCTR’s 40th anniversary at the center’s Jefferson Laboratories in Jefferson, Ark.

Hamburg said:

“This MOU is an important part of modernizing the FDA through the leveraging of intellectual, human and financial resources to better protect and promote public health. We applaud Governor Beebe and the state of Arkansas for partnering with us.”

NCTR, which is based in Jefferson, Ark., provides global leadership and innovative scientific solutions supporting the FDA’s public health mission. The FDA center provides multidisciplinary training and cultivates national and international collaborations with scientists from government, academia and industry worldwide. It conducts peer-reviewed research and develops novel scientific tools to assist the agency in regulatory decision-making processes.

Together with researchers in government, industry and academia, NCTR develops, refines and applies current as well as new technologies for improving safety assessments of FDA-regulated products.

The peer-reviewed interdisciplinary toxicology investigations enable researchers to identify the biological effects of potentially toxic chemicals, define complex mechanisms that govern toxicity and develop ways to improve assessment of human exposure, susceptibility and risk to toxins and pathogens in FDA-regulated products.

Gov. Beebe stated:

“This signing further secures NCTR as one of Arkansas’s top research facilities. The center has brought scientific leaders from around the world to Arkansas for decades, and we are excited about its continued mission to protect the health of all Americans.”

The MOU will allow access to additional training and resources through the newly established Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science to scientists and regulators from all over the world. NCTR Director William Slikker, Ph.D. said:

“For 40 years dedicated NCTR scientists have played a pivotal role in aiding the mission of our agency,” continuing, “The scientific innovations and novel research approaches developed here have aided the work of the FDA to predict potential toxicity of FDA-regulated products. This MOU enables us to draw down on the research and development ongoing within the state of Arkansas which will truly help us to continue advancing regulatory science.”

Written by Petra Rattue