Research

The focus will be on understanding fundamental interactions of ionizing radiation with molecules, cells, and organisms. Major topics will include metabolic response to radiation, oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling pathways in the cellular response to radiation, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms regulating radiation response, genetic susceptibility to human disease, improved strategies of radiation therapy, and identification of molecular and cellular markers for radiation response. Radiation biology research will interface with the population-based studies of radiation epidemiology and exposure/risk assessment by providing molecular and mechanistic information and biomarkers that may inform population studies at the levels of molecular approaches, population and computational genetics and systems biological approaches to study adaptive responses to radiation exposure, radiation risk assessment, and health outcomes.

Emphasis will be placed on human populations who have been exposed to radiation and implement cutting-edge computational and systems biological as well as genetic approaches to integrate mechanistic studies with organismic responses and adaptations and to develop advanced models through large-scale analytical platforms to generate novel translational paths. The JBL Center will be able to expand its access to data and biological samples from cohorts around the world exposed to radiation. Through a close collaboration with the radiation biology group, sophisticated molecular markers of dose response, biological effects, and susceptibility traits will be explored for assessment of the association of human population radiation exposure and health effects.

Apart from the assessment of background radiation (especially radon progeny), routine uses of ionizing radiation for diagnosis, therapy, and occupational exposures to ionizing radiation, both in medicine and in the nuclear industry, special emphasis will be given to exposure assessment in unusual situations such as nuclear terrorism and reactor accidents. The JBLC will collaborate with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to develop and implement effective humanitarian strategies for relief, protection and prevention of nuclear disasters.

Either by targeted effects on irradiated cells or bystander effects on un-irradiated cells, biological effects from low-dose irradiation do occur. What remains controversial is the nature of these effects. On the one hand, mutations and chromosomal aberrations are a proven consequence of low-dose radiation. On the other hand, both bystander cells as well as irradiated cells enjoy increased resistance to subsequent radiation exposure, likely induced by adaptive changes in gene expression induced by direct irradiation and bystander signaling.

Why is the effort to solve these basic issues essential? We live in a world surrounded by potential sources of low-dose radiation exposure. Over the course of our lives, we will encounter these sources knowingly, as with diagnostic X-rays, CT scans, scatter from radiation therapy, or new radiation-based airport scanners; or unknowingly from natural sources such as radon or even a so-called “dirty bomb”. Deciphering the biological effects of low-dose radiation, good or bad, must remain a top research priority because of its profound implications on public health policy and practice. Also, the biological response to environmental toxins is likely to be well conserved, so that lessons from radiobiology will be applicable in many other areas.

We believe that the JBL Center must take the intellectual lead in low-dose radiation research on the molecular, cellular and organismal levels.