Björn Ekwall

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.{{Cite web |title=Remember of a pioneer in the field of in vitro toxicology AATEX Vo1_12(2) |url=http://www.asas.or.jp/jsaae/jsaae/aatex/12-2-5.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=www.asas.or.jp |archive-date=2022-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221201151/http://www.asas.or.jp/jsaae/jsaae/aatex/12-2-5.html |url-status=dead }}{{Citation |title=New England Anti-Vivisection Society |date=2022-04-30 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_England_Anti-Vivisection_Society&oldid=1085417502 |work=Wikipedia |language=en |access-date=2022-05-12}}

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.{{Cite journal |last1=Clemedson |first1=Cecilia |last2=Nordin-Andersson |first2=Marika |last3=Bjerregaard |first3=Henning F. |last4=Clausen |first4=Jørgen |last5=Forsby |first5=Anna |last6=Gustafsson |first6=Helena |last7=Hansson |first7=Ulrika |last8=Isomaa |first8=Boris |last9=Jørgensen |first9=Carsten |last10=Kolman |first10=Ada |last11=Kotova |first11=Natalia |date=May–June 2002 |title=Development of an in vitro test battery for the estimation of acute human systemic toxicity: An outline of the EDIT project. Evaluation-guided Development of New In Vitro Test Batteries |journal=Alternatives to Laboratory Animals |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=313–321 |doi=10.1177/026119290203000309 |issn=0261-1929 |pmid=12106010|s2cid=22632144 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Walum |first1=Eric |last2=Tähti |first2=Hanna |last3=Kolman |first3=Ada |date=September 2011 |title=The tenth anniversary of the Björn Ekwall memorial foundation |journal=Alternatives to Laboratory Animals |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=389–402 |doi=10.1177/026119291103900413 |issn=0261-1929 |pmid=21942549|s2cid=45480911 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Clemedson |first1=Cecilia |last2=Nordin-Andersson |first2=Marika |last3=Bjerregaard |first3=Henning F. |last4=Clausen |first4=Jørgen |last5=Forsby |first5=Anna |last6=Gustafsson |first6=Helena |last7=Hansson |first7=Ulrika |last8=Isomaa |first8=Boris |last9=Jørgensen |first9=Carsten |last10=Kolman |first10=Ada |last11=Kotova |first11=Natalia |date=1 May 2002 |title=Development of an In Vitro Test Battery for the Estimation of Acute Human Systemic Toxicity: An Outline of the EDIT Project |journal=Alternatives to Laboratory Animals |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=313–321 |doi=10.1177/026119290203000309 |pmid=12106010 |s2cid=22632144 |issn=0261-1929|doi-access=free }}

He has authored and co-authored many publications, including the following:{{Cite web |title=Björn Ekwall's research works {{!}} Uppsala University, Uppsala (UU) and other places |url=https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Bjoern-Ekwall-42775675 |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=ResearchGate |language=en}}

• 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

The foundation was established in 2001 by the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology (SSCT) in memory of Björn Ekwall.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-10 |title=Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation (BEMF) |url=https://bemf.herokuapp.com/ |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=bemf.herokuapp.com}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/messages/downloadsexceeded.html |access-date=2022-05-16 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Walum |first1=Erik |last2=Tähti |first2=Hanna |last3=Kolman |first3=Ada |date=1 September 2011 |title=The Tenth Anniversary of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Foundation |journal=Alternatives to Laboratory Animals |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=389–402 |doi=10.1177/026119291103900413 |pmid=21942549 |s2cid=45480911 |issn=0261-1929|doi-access=free }}{{Cite book |last=Fano |first=Alix |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wAdWx_PtYQC&dq=%22Bj%C3%B6rn+Ekwall%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA194 |title=Lethal Laws: Animal Testing, Human Health and Environmental Policy |date=1 May 1997 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-1-85649-498-4 |language=en}}

So far, the following scientists have received the BEMA.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-30 |title=Dr. Helena Kandarova is the recipient of the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for the year 2022 |url=https://www.estiv.org/dr-helena-kandarova-is-the-recipient-of-the-bjorn-ekwall-memorial-award-for-the-year-2022/ |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=European Society of Toxicology In Vitro |language=en-US}}

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Category:Swedish scientists

Category:1940 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:Toxicologists

Category:20th-century Swedish biologists

Category:Uppsala University alumni

Category:Scientists from Uppsala