Björn Ekwall (13 June 1940 – 19 August 2000) was a Swedish cell toxicologist, known for his pioneering work in in vitro toxicology.
Biography Ekwall was born in Uppsala in 1940. He studied at Uppsala University Medical School and got his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1969. After a short time, he served as a lecturer at the Department of Anatomy at Uppsala University. He completed his PhD at the same university and was a postdoc for six months at Materials Science Technology Laboratories, Memphis, Tennessee, between 1981 and 1982.
During 1982-1983 he worked as a consultant at the Toxicology Laboratory of the Swedish Food Administration. In 1983 he founded the Cytotoxicology Laboratory (CTLU) in Uppsala.
Selected work and publications Ekwall is known for his two main projects: Multicentre Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) and Evaluation-Guided Development of In Vitro Toxicity and Toxicokinetic Tests (EDIT) which became basis for later international EU projects such as ACuteTox, Sens-it-iv and ReProTect. MEIC evaluated the usefulness of in vitro tests for the estimation of human acute systemic toxicity. Started in 1999, the purpose of EDIT was to establish and validate in vitro tests relevant to toxicokinetics and for organ-specific toxicity, to be incorporated into optimal test batteries for the estimation of human acute systemic toxicity.
He has authored and co-authored many publications, including the following:
Toxicity to HeLa cells of 205 drugs as determined by the metabolic inhibition test supplemented by microscopy, Toxicology, 17 (1980), pp. 273–295 Preliminary studies on the validity of in vitro measurement of drug toxicity using HeLa cells II. Drug toxicity in the MIT-24 system compared with mouse and human lethal dosage of 52 drug, Toxicology Letters, 5 (1980), pp. 309–317 MEIC- a new international multicenter project to evaluate the relevance to human toxicity of in vitro cytotoxicity tests, Cell Biology and Toxicology, 5 (1989), pp. 331–347 Overview of the final MEIC results II. The in vitro/in vivo evaluation, including a selection of a practical battery of cell tests for prediction of acute lethal blood concentrations in human, Toxicology in Vitro, 13 (1999), pp. 665–673 EDIT: a new international multicenter program to develop and evaluate batteries of in vitro tests for acute and chronic systematic toxicity, ATLA, 27 (1999), pp. 339–349
Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF) The foundation was established in 2001 by the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology (SSCT) in memory of Björn Ekwall. Since 2020, the Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF) has been an independent fundraising foundation. The foundation rewards Björn Ekwall Memorial Award (BEMA) to the scientist from around the world each year for excellent work in cell toxicology contributing towards the replacement of animal experiments by alternative toxicity tests and approaches.
Recipients of Björn Ekwall Memorial Award (BEMA) So far, the following scientists have received the BEMA. Sr. No.Name of the recipientCountryYear1Maria José Gómez-Lechón Spain20022Per Kjellstrand Sweden20033Hanna Tähti Finland20044Hasso Seibert and Michael GüldenGermany20055Cecilia Clemedson Sweden20066Rodger CurrenUSA20077Erik Walum Sweden20088Annalaura StammatiItaly20099Richard ClothierUK201010Päivi Myllynen Finland201111Horst Spielmann Germany201212Per Artursson Sweden201313Tuula HeinonenFinland201414Michael BallsUK201515Vera Rogiers Belgium201616Thomas Hartung USA201717Anna Forsby Sweden201818Jan Van der ValkThe Netherlands201919Sandra Coecke Italy2020/2120Helena KandarovaSlovakia202221Marcel LeistGermany202322Hanna Vuorenpää Finland202523Maria KarlgrenSweden2026
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