INSTITUTE OF OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

Their core work

IOM is an independent research centre specializing in occupational and environmental health, with deep expertise in assessing human exposure to hazardous materials — particularly nanomaterials. They conduct risk assessments, develop safe-by-design frameworks, and build regulatory tools that help industry and policymakers understand and manage the health risks of engineered nanomaterials. Their work bridges toxicology, exposure science, and regulatory compliance, making them a go-to partner for any consortium that needs rigorous safety evaluation of advanced materials.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), IOM focused on the practical safety challenges of scaling up nanomaterial production — working on nanocomposite manufacturing lines, regulation compliance, and grouping frameworks for nanomaterials (NanoREG II, CO-PILOT, OptiNanoPro). From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward safe-by-design strategies, computational risk modelling, risk governance, and broader exposure science including the workplace exposome and micro/nanoplastics. This evolution shows a move from reactive safety testing toward proactive, design-stage risk prevention and digital tools for safety prediction.

IOM is moving toward computational and data-driven approaches to safety assessment, and expanding from engineered nanomaterials into emerging pollutants like micro/nanoplastics — positioning them at the frontier of next-generation exposure science.

How they like to work

IOM operates almost exclusively as a specialist partner within large consortia (16 of 18 projects as participant), contributing domain expertise in exposure assessment and risk management rather than leading project-level coordination. With 324 unique partners across 40 countries, they maintain an exceptionally broad network, suggesting they are a trusted, well-known name that many different groups want on their team. Their single coordinator role (BIORIMA) demonstrates they can lead when the topic sits squarely in their core — biomaterial risk management — but they clearly prefer the specialist contributor role.

IOM has collaborated with 324 unique partners across 40 countries, giving them one of the most extensive nanosafety networks in Europe. Their reach spans well beyond the UK, covering virtually all EU member states and associated countries.

What sets them apart

IOM occupies a rare niche as an independent, SME-sized research centre that combines occupational health heritage with deep nanosafety expertise — most comparable organisations are either large universities or government agencies. Their independence means they can serve as a neutral risk assessor trusted by both regulators and industry. For consortium builders, IOM brings instant credibility on safety and exposure work packages, plus a network of 324 partners to draw from.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BIORIMA
  IOM's only coordinator role across 18 projects — leading a framework for biomaterial risk management, demonstrating their authority in this specific domain.
• EPHOR
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 582,488) and a major exposome initiative linking occupational exposure to non-communicable diseases through cohort studies and omics.
• NanoInformaTIX
  Represents IOM's pivot to computational safety — building a modelling platform integrating QSAR, PBPK, and multi-scale models for nanomaterial risk prediction.