Photo credit: John Cryan
A huge congratulations to Dr Rie Matsuzaki, who recently completed her PhD with the SPRINT project!
Rie's research, which focused on pesticides and the microbiota-gut-brain axis, has contributed a great deal to our research. Her PhD was completed at APC Microbiome Ireland, which is part of the SPRINT consortium.
We're pleased to remind our readers of a factsheet we've produced based on one of her recent publications: 'Linking synthetic pesticide exposure to the gut microbiota and brain functioning'.
Big news! SPRINT will hold its final conference on:
25 June 2025 (Brussels)
SAVE THE DATE!
- Pesticide impacts: Discover SPRINT’s critical new evidence on human health and ecological hazards, and the risks of pesticide mixtures.
- Sustainable transitions: Discuss what the evidence means for the future of plant protection.
SPRINT researchers have spent the past 5 years producing extensive evidence that sheds new light on pesticides’ health, environmental, agricultural and socio-economic impacts.
We are excited to share our key findings and One Health approach with you at this 1-day event: Shaping the Future of Sustainable Plant Protection.
The conference is your opportunity to discover and discuss opportunities for accelerating the move towards sustainable plant protection policies, regulations and practices.
Full details to come! Stay tuned.
We've just published a new batch of our PhD students' latest posters, showcasing their work on the project. Click the images below to take a look at their work, and go to our posters page here to look through the full collection.
The latest bumper edition of the SPRINT newsletter is out now!
The team are busier than ever writing reports and papers on our findings. We had a successful review meeting in Brussels, which offered a great opportunity to gain feedback from the European Commission and DG Santé and to further explain our research approach and findings relating to #Pesticides and #PlantProtectionProducts.
We’ll be heading back to Brussels for our final meeting soon, where we’ll be welcoming stakeholders and policymakers to contribute to the co-development of science led policy recommendations. The next few months promise to be a whirlwind of activity at SPRINT, and we are wholeheartedly looking forward to it!
For more about our recent activities, including new research on pesticide reduction strategies on-farm, transition success stories, tips on how to minimise your exposure to pesticides in indoor dust, and an exclusive behind the scenes glimpse of the committees that are the backbone of the project, dive into the newsletter here.
The full recording of our second 'ask the author' webinar is now live! Watch it by clicking here.
During this session, Vera Silva shared insights about a recent SPRINT peer-reviewed article, 'Pesticide residues in European sediments: A significant concern for the aquatic systems?'
A concise summary of the article can be found here.
Vera was joined by Aurea C. Chiaia-Hernández, who is based at the University of Bern and specialises in the analysis of organic contaminants in natural systems, including sediments, and their effect on microbial communities.
