Gradient Toxicologist Lindsey Borton Receives Society of Toxicology Award

News & Events

March 26, 2026

Gradient Toxicologist Lindsey Borton has received the Best Published Paper Award from the Medical Device and Combination Product Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology.

[March 26, 2026, Boston, MA] – Gradient announces that Principal Toxicologist Lindsey Borton and Medtronic Sr. Distinguished Toxicologist Kelly Coleman have been awarded Best Published Paper by the Medical Device and Combination Product Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology.  This award recognizes “outstanding contributions to the field of toxicology in the context of medical devices and combination products.”  Ms. Borton and Dr. Coleman were presented the award at an evening reception during the SOT 65th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo on March 23, 2026, in San Diego, California.

Ms. Borton and Dr. Coleman used an evidence-based toxicology approach to determine whether material-mediated pyrogens (MMPs) exist in a medical device context, and whether the rabbit pyrogen test (RPT) could detect the presence of material-mediated pyrogens (MMPs) in or on a medical device.  The implications have potential to reduce animal-based testing requirements.  Their work was published in the journal, Alternatives to Animal Experimentation (ALTEX).

Read the published paper in ALTEX:  Borton, L; Coleman, K. 2025. “Material-mediated pyrogens in medical devices: Myth or reality?” ALTEX – Altern. Anim. Ex. doi: 10.14573/altex.2504231.

See more detail about this paper on Gradient’s website.

According to the Society of Toxicology Medical Device and Combination Product Specialty Section website, “The SOT Specialty Sections represent the breadth and diversity of the toxicological sciences by focusing on specific toxicological areas.”  The Medical Device and Combination Product Specialty Section has a purpose of “providing an international forum where government, industry, and academic toxicologists can share state-of-the-art knowledge and develop new approaches for the evaluation of medical devices.”

One paper is selected to receive the Best Published Paper Award, Medical Device and Combination Product Specialty Section each year.

Please join us in congratulating Lindsey Borton and Kelly Coleman on this award.