Barbara A. Wetmore, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award in recognition of her extensive contributions to the development and application of in vitro methods for toxicokinetics that allow the replacement of experimental animals.
Barbara A. Wetmore, PhD
Dr. Wetmore received her PhD in toxicology from North Carolina State University in 2000 and performed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Dr. Wetmore has worked to develop methods suitable for addressing the thousands of chemicals in commerce and the environment that do not have sufficient traditional data to allow calculation of risk posed to public health. In her work as a toxicologist for the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), where she currently serves as a human exposure modeling scientist, Dr. Wetmore brings her expertise in toxicokinetics and in vitro to in vivo extrapolation modeling approaches to new approach methodologies (NAM) research. Her research involves developing and assessing in vitro assays that will improve science while reducing animal use in toxicity testing. Dr. Wetmore has been honored for this work through several internal awards, including the US EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s Bronze Award for Alternative Test Methods Strategic Plan Team in 2018. She also is a member of the US EPA Toxic Substances Control Act NAM cross-agency group, tasked with NAM review.
To date, Dr. Wetmore has helped provide chemical-specific toxicokinetic information for roughly 1,000 chemicals using nonanimal methods. Her outstanding work not only has helped reduce the use of vertebrate species for toxicokinetics but also has provided a key component in advancing toxicology. Dr. Wetmore’s research has placed nonanimal in vitro high-throughput bioactivity screening in a context that allows both comparison to traditional methods as well as application to better protect public health.
Dr. Wetmore has been active in SOT since joining the membership in 2009. She is the 2020–2021 President of both the SOT Risk Assessment Specialty Section and the SOT Exposure Specialty Section, of which she also is a co-founder. In addition, she is a Past President of the In Vitro and Alternative Methods Specialty Section and has co-chaired and presented at various SOT annual meetings on a variety of topics, including in vitro to in vivo extrapolation, high-throughput exposure modeling, and incorporation of in vitro pharmacokinetic data into risk assessment. She also is a member of the Toxicological Sciences Editorial Board.
In addition to her leadership within SOT, Dr. Wetmore is involved with other national and international organizations that work to incorporate nonanimal methods into toxicological testing. Among her myriad committee appointments, she currently serves on the EURL-ECVAM expert group on in vitro hepatic metabolic clearance methods and is a member of the OECD Working Group of the National Coordination of the Test Guidelines Programme Expert Group on Toxicokinetics.
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