The iCare consortium met in Pisa, Italy, on 25-26 August 2026 for its penultimate General Assembly, hosted by the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). The meeting brought partners together to review progress across the project, discuss remaining activities, and prepare for the final phase of iCare.

In addition to the project discussions, partners had the opportunity to visit IIT's laboratories and see some of the research being carried out there. This included meeting some of the planarians being used within iCare as a bridging model between animal testing and in vitro approaches.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss how the project's results can continue to be used after iCare ends. Partners reviewed plans for ensuring that the methods, tools and knowledge developed during the project remain accessible to regulators, policymakers, industry and the wider research community.

Each work package presented updates on recent activities and achievements, with discussions focusing on how the different strands of work are contributing to the project's overall objectives. Partners also reviewed the industrial case studies and considered how the new testing methods developed within iCare could be applied to a wider range of materials and sectors in the future.

Planning for the project's final events was also underway. Further details will be announced in the coming months, including opportunities to take part as a beta tester for some of the methods and tools being developed through iCare.