Marvin Martens (0000-0001-7487-8615), originally trained as a biomedical scientist and developmental biologist at Maastricht University (NL) and Université Pierre et Marie Curie (FR), transitioned into bioinformatics during his master's projects. This shift led him to the Department of Bioinformatics (BiGCaT) at Maastricht University, where he received his PhD in 2024. Throughout his doctoral research, Marvin focused on Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs), data integration, FAIR principles, and semantic web approaches. Marvin has contributed to several significant toxicology projects, including EU-ToxRisk, OpenRiskNet, NanoSolveIT, RiskGONE, and CIAO, and the Dutch project VHP4Safety. His PhD work included AOP development, data and service integration, database FAIRification (notably the AOP-Wiki), semantic web applications, and in-depth transcriptomic data analysis. Currently, Marvin is a postdoctoral researcher at Maastricht University, continuing his work within the VHP4Safety project. He co-leads the ELIXIR Toxicology Community, a collaborative effort to advance toxicology through bioinformatics solutions. Additionally, he is involved in the EFSA-funded project TXG-MAP, which aims to make transcriptomics data applicable for the risk assessment of chemicals. In this project, he is responsible for data analysis and contextualizing transcriptomics data within AOPs. Marvin's passion and expertise are centered on optimizing the use of AOPs, which he envisions as central hubs for integrating toxicological data, knowledge, and tools. Also, his work continues to enhance the accessibility and applicability of toxicological data, with a particular emphasis on making transcriptomics data relevant for risk assessments, contributing to more informed decision-making and accelerated advancements in the field of toxicology.
OpenTox Summer School 2025
In Silico Toxicodynamics with VHP4Safety Services
Toxicodynamics refers to the interaction of chemicals with biological systems leading to adverse outcomes. It is essential for modern, mechanism-based chemical safety assessment and plays a key role in the development of alternatives to animal testing. The VHP4Safety project consortium is developing a range of in silico tools that allow the quantification and modeling of toxicological effects. These tools cover a wide variety of approaches, including QSAR models, molecular docking, quantitative Adverse Outcome Pathways (qAOPs), and transcriptome-based quantification of Key Events (KEs). This session offers an overview and practical introduction to VHP4Safety services that support toxicodynamic assessments. Participants will gain insight into how these tools can be used to address specific regulatory and research questions related to chemical safety. Following a general introduction to the project and a selection of services, the session will include guided demonstrations and/or hands on exercises of these services. These demonstrations will include predicting chemical potency for Molecular Initiating Event activation using QSARs, predicting molecular interactions using docking, and applying qAOP models. Where applicable, participants will explore how these services can be used via user interfaces or how they can be accessed programmatically from coding environments. By the end of the session, participants will have a broad overview of toxicodynamics-focused services developed in VHP4Safety and understand how to apply them in support of mechanistic, data-driven chemical safety evaluation.