Emma Kasteel

Dr. Emma Kasteel is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. Her work focuses on toxicology, particularly neurotoxicology of micro- and nanoplastics and alternative methods to animal testing.

Dr. Kasteel completed her PhD in 2021 on Next Generation Risk Assessment of Chemicals with a focus on alternative (in vitro/in silico) methods for toxicity testing. Her educational background includes a Master of Science in Drug Discovery and Safety (cum laude) from VU Amsterdam (2014-2016) and a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences from VU Amsterdam (2011-2014).

Her research primarily centers on neurotoxicology, microplastics, and risk assessment of chemicals. She is currently investigating whether micro- and nanoplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause potential neurotoxic effects as part of the MOMENTUM project. Dr. Kasteel is also involved in the INTACT project, which focuses on integrated in vitro toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics to advance multi-organ toxicity testing.

Her publication record demonstrates strong expertise in applying in vitro data in physiologically-based kinetic models, refining neurotoxicity approaches by accounting for interspecies and interindividual differences, and developing next-generation risk assessment methods. Her work frequently employs Bayesian meta-analysis to address human variability in toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic processes.

Dr. Kasteel has received recognition for her work, including the 2022 Joep van den Bercken award for best PhD thesis in toxicology in 2021.

She is actively involved in teaching, particularly in courses related to toxicology, food, pesticides, and drugs. She also shares her expertise through media appearances discussing microplastics risks and advances in animal-free toxicity testing.