Elsevier Lecture of the Year 2025
Invitation to the public lecture by Prof. Dr. Ariane Vettorazzi-Armental from the University of Navarra in Spain: “From regulated nephrotoxin to neurotoxicity: potential role of ochratoxin A in Parkinson Disease”.
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species that contaminates various food and feed products, presenting potential risks to human health. While OTA is well-known for its nephrotoxic effects, emerging evidence highlights its neurotoxic potential. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with genetic and environmental causes. Emerging lines of investigation have focused their research on the role of environmental toxins, including mycotoxins, in PD pathogenesis. However, the specific involvement of OTA in PD-related pathways still needs to be elucidated.
Prof. Dr. Ariane Vettorazzi Armental is pharmacist and a Full Professor of Toxicology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Navarra (Spain).
Since 2011, she has been a faculty member at the University of Navarra, where she currently leads research projects investigating the link between mycotoxin exposure and Parkinson’s disease, as well as the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of emerging mycotoxins. She has contributed to over 19 national and international research projects and has published more than 60 papers and book chapters in international journals.
Prof. Vettorazzi Armental is the Scientific Director of the Drug Development Unit (DDUNAV), which provides GLP-compliant preclinical studies for the pharmaceutical and agro-food industries. She also teaches undergraduate and master’s courses in toxicology and food safety and directs the Master’s program in Drug Research & Development & Innovation at the University of Navarra. She is a member of the EUROTOX and European Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EEMGS).
When: 10 November 2025 at 17:00
Where: Carl-Auer-von-Welsbach Lecture hall (Großer Hörsaal 1) in the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna in Boltzmanngasse 1 / Währingerstr. 38, 1090 Vienna
Or online:
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/62614752631?pwd=asOf7KqDZXLyPBoX33FbKjRGMrn0ta.1
The Austrian Society of Toxicology is awarding PhD students or young PostDocs (completed PhD not longer than 24 months ago), working at an Austrian university or research institution, a travel grant of up to EUR 1.000,- for the visit of a toxicological conference. The applicant has to provide an abstract for a presentation and a recent academic CV together with this application form. Submissions should be compiled to a single pdf-file and sent to contact@astox.at until January 31, 2026.
Former recipients of the „ASTOX Young Investigator Educational Enhancement Travel Award“:
- Maximilian Jobst (University of Vienna, poster presentation EUROTOX Congress 2023, Ljubljana, SVN)
- Magdalena Pöchhacker (University of Vienna, poster presentation GRC on Mycotoxins & Phycotoxins 2023, Easton, USA)
- Helene-Christine Prause (University of Vienna, talk ICHA 2023, Hiroshima, JPN)
- Janice Bergen (University of Vienna, poster presentation ESTIV Congress 2024, Prague, CZ)
- Lucia Parrakova (Medical University of Innsbruck, poster presentation EUROTOX Congress 2024, Copenhagen, DK)
- Judith Gufler (University of Vienna, poster presentation EUROTOX Congress 2025, Athens, GR)
- Vanessa Partsch (University of Vienna, poster presentation GRC on Mycotoxins & Phycotoxins 2025, Easton, USA)
- Eszter Borsos (University of Vienna, poster presentation GRC on Mycotoxins & Phycotoxins 2025, Easton, USA)
- Ajouan Mazoudji (University of Vienna & AGES, poster presentation EUROTOX Congress 2025, Athens, GR)
