The organizing committee led by Thomas Hartung from John Hopkins University included scientists from the US and Europe including Jana Klanova representing the ESFRI infrastructure EIRENE.
Panel discussions in the Forum plenary as well as small breakout groups targeted key focus areas including needs for innovative technologies and AI tools, development of sufficient infrastructural and training capacities, ethical and legal aspects of the Exposome Research and a need for its global coordination. The Forum also provided an opportunity for several side events discussing a closer collaboration between the US Exposome project NEXUS, European IHEN and EIRENE, especially in the area of innovative methods for an Exposome characterization, and for reaching out to Exposome communities in other continents.
The Washington, D.C. Declaration on the Human Exposome was signed by the Exposome Moonshot Forum participants expressing their committment to
- advance the Global Human Exposome Initiative through transdisciplinary collaboration across scientific disciplines, sectors, and national boundaries;
- develop and implement best practices, standardized protocols and study designs, ontologies, and reporting standards to enhance reproducibility;
- establishment a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data infrastructure with appropriate safeguards for privacy and security; and
- ethical, legal and social frameworks that ensure responsible research practices, accountability, and distribution of benefits across all populations;
- invest in interdisciplinary education curriculums to equip the next global generation of professionals focused on exposomics;
- support innovations that translate exposome findings into environmental monitoring and disease surveillance systems, diagnostic tools, health technologies, and public health interventions;
- engage with research institutions, industrial and commercial firms, healthcare systems, and civil society organizations to join this effort by committing resources, expertise, support and leadership to this transformative public health initiative.
