ILS

Environmental and Regulatory Sciences

ILS' Environmental and Regulatory Sciences division provides support for the evaluation of alternative toxicological methods as well as comprehensive environmental services.

Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods Link to NICEATM

ILS provides the scientific and administrative support activities for the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM), which in turn supports the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). The goal of ICCVAM is to promote the development, validation, acceptance, and use of alternative and revised testing methods and strategies that shall be more predictive of human health and ecological effects than currently available methods and strategies, while replacing, reducing, and refining animal use. ILS provides administrative support for the ICCVAM and its working groups; prescreens methods submitted for consideration by ICCVAM; coordinates the scientific peer review and interagency consideration of new test methods of multi-agency interest; convenes expert workshops to evaluate the validation status of new methods and to identify research and validation studies needed to fill critical knowledge gaps; and disseminates information on the current status of alternative test method development, validation, acceptance, and use. This work has included the creation and support of a website, development of ListServes, and other outreach activities. Report preparation and production are also critical activities on this contract.

Environmental Sciences

Our Environmental Sciences program, centered in Athens, GA, provides comprehensive environmental-related services through a highly experienced team of professionals and technicians. Our professional and technical personnel follow National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference (NELAC) requirements in the analytical work areas and ISO 17025 based accreditation for field analytical operations. Our analytical chemists provide a full range of analytical services including top tier quality assurance and data validation reviews. Our scientists conduct ecological risk assessments, hazardous waste site characterizations, toxicological studies, air quality monitoring, compliance audits, and other environmental related work. Also, we provide technical program assistance in support of the Department of Homeland Security.

Lead Scientist

David Allen, Ph.D.

As the Chief of Staff at ILS, Dr. Allen is responsible for leading, managing, and supervising all technical divisions and programs. He works closely with all scientific staff to support the planning and execution of ILS growth plans, and leads staff planning and employee development. Dr. Allen has over 15 years of experience in regulatory toxicology, test method validation, and in vitro biology. Prior to joining ILS, he was a toxicologist for the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, where he was responsible for evaluating toxicological and pharmacological data for investigational new drug applications. Once at ILS, Dr. Allen spent over 7 years providing contract support for the National Toxicology Program's Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM), including 5 years as the Principal Investigator. In 2008, he became the Director of the Division of Environmental and Regulatory Sciences, which included oversight of NICEATM and the Environmental Sciences program. Dave received his B.S. in Zoology from North Carolina State University, his M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology also from North Carolina State University.