Advancing FAIR Data in toxicology: ELIXIR-UK collaborates in international workshops

ELIXIR-UK demonstrates its commitment to advancing FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data practices in toxicology by participating in and organising several workshops as part of the ELIXIR Toxicology Community. The workshops, funded as part of an ELIXIR internal project, INTOXICOM (Integrating the Toxicology Community into ELIXIR), have brought together toxicologists, bioinformaticians and data managers from across Europe to explore strategies for making toxicology tools and data more accessible and interoperable.

Representing ELIXIR-UK, Sara Morsy delivered a session during the second workshop at the University of Basel, Switzerland,  titled “How to Make Toxicology Training Materials FAIR,” signifying the UK Node’s leadership in standardising, sharing and increasing the reuse of educational resources. Sara’s involvement emphasised that ensuring training materials themselves adhere to FAIR principles is as crucial as making research data and toxicological models FAIR.  The workshop proved highly successful: participants applied the Bioschemas Training profile to NanoHandbook, identifying it as a prime target to apply the FAIR principles. This approach supports the discoverability and uptake of resources, building on ELIXIR-UK’s longstanding role in developing and maintaining TeSS, the ELIXIR Training Portal. Sara’s involvement in this workshop also aligns with her role as a training expert in the ELIXIR Toxicology Community and her leadership of the ELIXIR FAIR Training Focus Group.

The INTOXICOM project, a two-year initiative involving six national ELIXIR Nodes, aims to align FAIR and open data solutions in toxicology with ELIXIR’s broader infrastructure. Key objectives include disseminating best practices for FAIR-ification of toxicological research outputs, developing guidance for research output management, and optimising educational resources through platforms like TeSS. The project also fosters cross-node collaboration and the development of community standards to enhance data interoperability and support innovation in chemical risk assessment.ELIXIR-UK’s active participation in such workshops underlines its dedication to cross-Node partnerships and the advancement of FAIR documentation, metadata standards and tool accessibility.

Looking ahead, ELIXIR-UK will continue to drive collaboration in the field, with a follow-up workshop, “Making Toxicology Educational Resources more FAIR”, planned for July 2025 at the University of Birmingham, co-hosted by Isault Lynch and Sara Morsy.