BTS publishes a report following Phase 1 of the Education and Skills Gap Project
Many of our profession are aware of the increasing importance of expertise in regulatory toxicology in Industry and Government Departments as well as in other organisations such as Contract Research Laboratories and Consultancies. This is being driven by, for example, the need for more industry innovation in the design of safe and sustainable chemicals as well as the increased regulatory demands following the UK’s exit from the EU. However, companies and government agencies as well as BTS members have reported for some time that there has been a decrease in the number of skilled applicants for toxicology roles, especially in regulatory toxicology and human health risk assessment.
In response to this need, the BTS created an Education and Training Advisory Group, with members from industry, a government agency and academia. We are pleased to be able to share with you the findings of Phase 1 of the project (BTS Phase 1 Education and skills gap project report) which focusses on the skills and training needed in regulatory toxicology which have been identified by a very wide range of stakeholders, and also on the education and skills training available to current and future UK regulatory toxicologists. The report identifies a number of gaps in the availability of training.
Phase 2 of the project will involve the preparation of a plan to meet this training gap to include options for both academic and multi-stakeholder investment plans in both education and skills provision. This next phase of the project will involve other key stakeholders from academia, industry and government agencies.
If you have any questions on the report of Phase 1 or on the initial plans for Phase 2, please feel free to contact us using the BTS e-mail address (bts@execbs.com).
