Ansatt
Dr. Ann-Karin (Anka) Olsen is a senior scientist at NILU's Health Effects Laboratory.
She is a molecular biologist with expertise in toxicology, with main areas of expertise in genetic toxicology, DNA damage and repair, mutagenesis, DNA sequencing, gene expression, epigenetics, endocrine effects and cancer, with special focus on male germ cells.
She has experience with models from bacteria, yeast, cell models (2C, 3D, stem cells), animal experiments and human cohort studies. She has established several state-of-the-art analysis methods, with a focus on the development of new methodologies, so-called NAMs (New Approach Methods), preferably according to the principle of SSbD (Safe and Sustainable by Design)
Anka started at NILU in 2024 after a long time at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in the Department of Chemical Toxicology as a research professor.
She has led several national and international projects and led the work package on “Biological effects” through 10 years for the Center of Excellence ( CoE/ RCN Sff) Center for Radioactivity, Humans and the Environment (CERAD; 2013-2023. Led by NMBU).
She has long experience in human risk assessment and regulatory toxicology, mainly of consumer products (expert for the European Chemicals Agency ECHA), and food. She is involved in several working groups in the OECD and has contributed to the development of standardized OECD tests for use in chemical regulation. She leads the OECD project for the revision of the in vivo comet assay (OECD Test guideline 489) to include analyses of male germ cells. She is part of the Scientific Committee for Food and the Environment (VKM), participates in several working groups in the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) and the International Workshops on Genotoxicity Testing (IWGT), and is president of the European Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EEMGS).
NILU's Health Effects Laboratory is certified for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) for in vitro human toxicity testing and is the only facility in Norway with this certification for human health risk assessment. Recognized as one of Europe’s leading laboratories in nanotoxicology and nanosafety, it conducts cutting-edge research on genotoxicity, mutagenicity, in vitro carcinogenicity, endocrine effects using advanced cellular models (2D, 3D, organoids, stem cells) and exposure systems. The lab is contributing to regulatory science through frameworks such as Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs), Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA), Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA), and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD).
