As the policy deliberations on the next EU budget for 2028-2034, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), have started, HEAL considers it crucial that health protection from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is at the core of spending and investment priorities.
The FREIA research project has launched a webinar series to mark the end of the project, bringing together leading partners to talk about their scientific findings after five years of research into the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on female reproduction.
It is beyond a doubt that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), also known as hormone disruptors, impact people’s health and the environment. Endocrine disruptors are synthetic substances that can disrupt our bodies’ hormones at any life stage, from conception to adulthood, which can in turn lead to a range of serious health problems. However, until recently, it wasn’t clear exactly how EDCs can harm female reproductive health.
FREIA – named after the Nordic fertility goddess – is an EU-funded research project dedicated to advancing test methods to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals that are toxic to women’s health. The project, of which HEAL is a partner, is a collaboration between 11 institutes from seven European countries and the USA.
The webinar series brings together 11 renowned researchers to present their scientific findings into endocrine disruptors and female reproductive health. The webinar recordings are available below.
- Agne Velthut-Meikas, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. ‘EDCs in the human ovarian follicle: how do they affect ovarian function?‘
- Ana Soto, TUFTS University School of Medicine, USA. ‘The rat mammary gland is a sensitive read-out for EDC exposure’
- Anne-Simone Parent, University of Liege, Belgium. ‘EDCs and the onset of puberty‘
- Eva Bay Wedebye, Danish Technical University, Denmark.
‘Development of QSAR models in the FREIA project to predict mechanistic key events related to female fertility’ (recording will be made available on this channel after the publication of the final results) - Hanna KL Johansson, Danish Technical University, Denmark.
‘Sensitive windows during development and potential biomarkers for female reproductive toxicity‘ - Ida Hallberg, Uppsala University, Sweden.
‘Linking lifestyle factors to fertility treatment outcomes: IVF cohort studies‘ - Indusha Kughatas, University of Rennes, France.
‘Investigating the impact of endocrine disruptors on ovaries through transcriptomic signatures: from data acquisition to collaborative sharing‘ - Majorie van Duursen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
‘Extensive steroidomic profiling to identify EDCs’ (recording will be made available on this channel after the publication of the final results) - Pauliina Damdimopoulou, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
‘The adult human ovary’ - Séverine Mazaud-Guittot, University of Rennes, France.
‘How EDCs can interfere with the construction of the foetal ovary: the case of humans’ (recording will be made available on this channel after the publication of the final results) - Yuling Xie, Queen’s University of Belfast, Ireland.
‘Human ovarian toxicity models in vitro: the human estrogen receptor beta‘
For more information about the FREIA research project, click here.
Click here to download factsheets and infographics from the FREIA project (available in different languages), which provide clear and concise information on endocrine disrupting chemicals and women’s health.
