iCare partners gathered at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) in Braga, Portugal, on 11–12 February 2026 for the project's annual review meeting and General Assembly — a milestone marking three years of progress in next-generation nanomaterial safety assessment.

The review meeting gave the iCare consortium the opportunity to present its achievements to the European Commission and an independent project reviewer. Highlights included the development of novel New Assessment Methodologies (NAMs), among them innovative in vitro and bridging models for predicting neurotoxicity, and the application of high-throughput, high-resolution fluorescent imaging techniques to measure the mechanical properties of nanomaterials. A particular point of emphasis was the project's two human-based in vitro blood-brain barrier (BBB) models, which are now being used to study the neurotoxic potential of several materials — including real-world samples contributed by iCare's industrial partners.

Following the review, the General Assembly brought partners together to plan for the project's final year. A dedicated internal workshop focused on how iCare's methods are being applied to industrially relevant case studies, using materials at various stages of the product life cycle. This work is central to the project's mission: ensuring that the assessment tools developed within iCare can be successfully translated into broader industrial practice beyond the project itself.

Partners also mapped out the dissemination strategy for the final project period, which will include:

• An exploitation plan outlining pathways to commercialisation and uptake
• A catalogue of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed throughout the project
• The iCare Plan for the Future — a roadmap for how project results can be adopted and built upon by researchers, regulators, and industry alike