Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Martin Stephens, PhD, promotes new methods of biomedical research and testing that are more relevant to human health than are traditional animal-based approaches.
Contact Info
615 N. Wolfe Street, Room W7032
Baltimore
Maryland
21205
US
410-614-2871
Research Interests
Evidence-based toxicology; alternative methods; animals in research; 21st century toxicology
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
The University of Chicago
1984
Overview
My current efforts are directed primarily to establishing the discipline of evidence-based toxicology (EBT) by translating the principles and tools of evidence-based medicine to toxicity testing. The nascent practice of EBT will focus primarily on assessing test methods and testing strategies, as well as hazard identification and risk assessment. Through the work of our EBT Collaboration (the parallel to the Cochrane Collaboration), these efforts will expand the means of test method validation and devise objective means of evaluating testing strategies. Such work will facilitate the adoption of new testing methods based on perturbations of biological pathways, as envisioned in the 2007 National Research Council report on “Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century.”
Honors & Awards
Russell and Burch Award, Humane Society of the United States
Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award, Society of Toxicology
Recognition Award, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Johns Hopkins University
The Doerenkamp-Zbinden Prize, Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation
Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award, Society of Toxicology
Recognition Award, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Johns Hopkins University
The Doerenkamp-Zbinden Prize, Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation
Select Publications
Selected publications from the last several years that reflect my interest in evidence-based toxicology and alternative methods (the latter referring to methods that can replace, reduce, or refine the use of animals as research subjects).
- Stephens, M. L., Betts, K., Beck, N.B., Cogliano, V., Dickersin, K., Fitzpatrick, S., Freeman, J., Gray, G., Hartung, T., MacPartland, J., Rooney, A. A., Scherer, R. W., Verloo, D., and Hoffmann, S. (2016). The emergence of systematic review in toxicology. Toxicological Sciences, 152 (1): 10-16.
- Gbeminiyi O. S., Hoffmann, S., Wright, R.A., Lalu, M.M., Patlewicz, G., Becker, R., DeGeorge, G.L., Fergusson, D., Hartung, T., Lewis, R.J., and Stephens, M.L. (2016). Guidance on assessing the methodological and reporting quality of toxicologically relevant studies: A scoping review. Environment International, 92-93: 630-646.
- Stephens, M.L. and Mak, N. 2014. History of 3Rs activity in toxicity testing: From Russell and Burch to 21st century toxicology. Pp. 1-43 in Reducing, Refining, and Replacing the Use of Animals in Toxicity Testing (D. Allen and M. Waters, eds.). Cambridge, UK, Royal Society of Chemistry.
- Hoffmann, S., de Vries, R.B.M., Stephens, M.L., Beck, N.B., Dirven, H.A.A.M., Fowle III, J.R., Goodman, J.E., Hartung, T., Kimber, I., Lalu, M.M., Thayer, K., Whaley, P., Wikoff, D., and Tsaioun. (2017). A primer on systematic reviews in toxicology. Arch. Toxicol., 91:2551-2575.
- Stephens, M.L. 2012. Pursuing Medawar’s challenge for full replacement. ALTEX Proceedings, 1/12, 23-26.