Staff
Melanie Fischer


About Me
My main focus is on the development of alternative methods to reduce the need for animals in (eco)toxicity testing. In particular I work with fish cell lines and zebrafish embryos to predict acute fish lethality and on improving the existing test systems for better prediction capacity.
Activities/ Responsibilities within the department
Projects
Curriculum Vitae
2009 - present |
Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Since I work at Eawag as lab technician I am and was involved in several projects focusing on alternatives to animal testing: |
2017 - 2021 | Development of an OECD guideline for the RTgill-W1 cell line assay (responsible for drafting and editing the drafts of the guideline and the validation report as part of the international review process). Publication of the guideline in June 2021: „Test Guideline No. 249: Fish Cell Line Acute Toxicity: The RTgill-W1 cell line assay”. |
2016 - present | Cofounder and partner of the start-up aQuaTox-Solutions GmbH, an Eawag spin-off. aQuaTox-Solutions offers animal free, alternative ecotoxicological test methods using fish cell lines and fish embryos for the assessment of water samples and chemicals. https://aquatox-solutions.ch/en/home/ |
2014 - 2019 | Development of an ISO guideline for the RTgill-W1 cell line assay. Publication of the guideline in April 2019: „ISO 21115 Water quality — Determination of acute toxicity of water samples and chemicals to a fish gill cell line (RTgill-W1)”. |
2013 - 2017 | Leading and coordinating a round robin study to assess the repeatability and reproducibility of the RTgill-W1 cell line assay for the prediction of fish acute toxicity. |
2013 – 2014 | Establishment of a passive dosing system for the zebrafish embryo test and the RTgill-W1 cell line assay. |
2012 | Literature research on non-relevant metabolites of pesticides in drinking water. Commissioned by Kurt Seiler, head of the inter-cantonal laboratory Schaffhausen. |
2010 - 2013 | Project „NC3R’s“ in collaboration with University of Liverpool - Development of a mechanistically informative genome-wide, in vitro chemical screening technology |
2009 - 2010 | Project "CEllSens" - Developing a strategy to predict acute fish lethality using fish cell lines and fish embryos to replace the fish acute toxicity test (OECD 203) by improving assay conditions and exploring various toxicological endpoints in fish cells and zebrafish embryos - Especially chemical screening with fish gill cells from rainbow trout. |
2008 - 2009 |
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany Project "CEllSens" - Developing a strategy to predict acute fish lethality using fish cell lines and fish embryos to replace the fish acute toxicity test (OECD 203) by improving assay conditions and exploring various toxicological endpoints in fish cells and zebrafish embryos - Especially chemical screening and optimization of exposure conditions using the zebrafish embryo toxicity test |
2003 - 2008 |
University of Applied Sciences (FH) Mittweida, Germany Course of Studies: Environmental Technology, special field: Biotechnology Degree Diploma Engineer (FH) |
Publications
Address
E-Mail: | melanie.fischer@cluttereawag.ch |
Phone: | +41 58 765 5233 |
Fax: | +41 58 765 5802 |
Address: | Eawag
Überlandstrasse 133 8600 Dübendorf |
Office: | BU E12 |
Co-founder of aQuaTox-Solutions
Recipient of the 2019 Swiss 3RCC Award
Researchers awarded prize for promotion of alternatives to animal experiments