Awardee
 

Curriculum vitae

1996: Christian Streffer (Germany)

		

Christian Streffer started his scientific studies in autumn 1958 as an organic chemist in the Radiologisches Institut, Univerity of Freiburg i.Br. He did some organic synthesis studies for a Master Degree in Chemistry. Thereafter he started work for a Ph.D. thesis in protein chemistry at the University of Freiburg. After taking a Ph.D. degree in January 1963 Christian Streffer went for six months to work in the Department of Biochemistry of Oxford University under the leadership of Professor Sir Hans Adolf Krebs. In autumn 1963 he returned to the Radiologisches Institut in Freiburg and started his work on metabolism of tryptophan as well as energy metabolism in mice after X-irradiation. One of the important findings was that in metabolic chains the so called pacemaker enzymes were most radiosensitive.

Around 1970 Christian Streffer started to work with cultures of pre-implantation mouse embryos and radiation effects. These studies were continued and intensified when Christian Streffer was appointed full professor and director of the Institute for Medical Radiobiology at the University Clinics in Essen in 1974. Cell proliferation and cell cycle can be studied with this system very efficiently as cell division can be clearly seen under the microscope and identified for each embryo. Until the experiments of Christian Streffer and his group it was generally accepted that no malformations can be induces by ionising radiation during the pre-implantation period. However, it now turned out that in a mouse strain with a genetic predisposition for a malformation (gastroschisis) this malformation increased after exposure during the pre-implantation period. The highest radiosensitivity was seen after exposure at the zygote stage shortly after conception. It was also observed that in fibroblasts from a foetus irradiated in the zygote stage the number of chromosomal aberrations was increased although a normal newborn mouse had developed. In a publication from 1989 the increase of instability was for the first time discussed as resulting from “instability of the genome” (today called: genomic instability). It was also observed that this instability is transmitted to the next mouse generation.

Besides these investigations Christian Streffer and his group studied several aspects of experimental radiotherapy on normal and human cancer cell systems as well as on tumour systems with nude mice. These investigations were done in close cooperation with clinicians of various disciplines and one of the aim was to find indicators for the individualization of cancer therapy. A number of studies were performed with respect to hypoxia with cells and transplanted cancers. This was done in connection with hyperthermia and hypoxic sensitizers. Thus the vascularization of normal tissues and of transplanted tumours was studied by corrosion cast techniques. Metabolic investigations were performed after hyperthermia. It was observed that appreciable shifts of the metabolic redox-ratios occur after such treatment which may explain the effects which are seen in tumours under these conditions.

Christian Streffer was President of the ERRS (1993-1994), Honorary President of ERRS (2002-2008), Member of the “Strahlenschutzkommission” (1979-1995), Chairman of the Commission (1993-1995), Advisor to UNSCEAR (1980-1999), Head of the German delegation to UNSCEAR (2001-2006), Member of ICRP (1993-2007), member of the Main Commission and Chairman of Committee 2 (2001-2007). Since 2008 Emeritus Member of ICRP.

Christian Streffer received many distinctions, among others the honorary doctor degree of the University of Kyoto, Japan (1995), the Bacq Alexander Award (1996), the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Medal of the Polish Society for Radiation Research (2001), the Friedrich-Dessauer Medal of the German Association for Radiological Protection (2002), Hanns Langendorff Medal of the Hanns-Langendorff-Foundation and Gesellschaft fuer Med. Strahlenschutz (2007), the Sievert Award of the International Radiological Protection Association (2008), the Ulrich Hagen Medaille of the Gesellschaft für biologische Strahlenforschung (2009), the Distinguish Service Award of Radiation Research Society, USA (2009).

1997: J.R. Maisin (Belgium) 

Jean René Maisin was born in Leuven in 1928. He received his doctorate in medicine in 1954, specializing in pathology 1959 and then in radio-diagnosis and in radio-therapy in 1961. He trained in the United States in 1959 at the National Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee with a WHO fellowship, and in 1960 at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington DC, with a NIH fellowship of the United States. In 1962 he was made Head of the Department of Radiobiology for the Study Center of Nuclear Energy in Mol (SCK•CEN). Since 1965 he has been registered as physician responsible for medical supervision of occupationally exposed people to ionizing radiation (Class 1). He completed Aggregation of higher education at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) in 1966. Dr. Maisin was appointed lecturer at UCL Faculty of Medicine in 1970, special lecturer in 1973, extraordinary professor in 1981 and professor emeritus in 1993. And in 1985 he was appointed Scientific Advisor to the Directorate General of SCK•CEN with the title of Head of Division. He has authored over 250 scientific papers concerning radiobiology, radiation, oncology, and pathology. Jean René Maisin was elected Secretary General of the "European Late Effect Project Group" (EULEP) from 1970 to 1985, and then president from 1985 to 1995. He was made an honorary member in 1996. He became a member of the elected Board of Directors of the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) in 1991, acting president in 1993, president from 1995 to 1999 and honorary member in 1999. From 1985 until 2009 he served as Belgian representative at the United Nations Committee to the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and chairman of the committee in 1991 and 1992. He was an elected member of the Board of Directors of the European Association of Radiobiology (1978-1993) and president from 1986 to 1988. He was a member of the Board of the International Society of Radiation Research from 1983 to 1991. he was a consulting expert to the Commissariat Français de l'Energie Atomique. He was a member of the Belgian delegation to the working group of experts on "chemoprophylaxis" and to the group "RSG" of commission VIII of NATO. He was a consulting expert in Radiobiology of the "Haut Commissariat à la recherche de la République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire". Jean René Maisin is also a founding member of the Belgian Committee of Animal Sciences laboratory (BCLAS) and served as secretary and chairman of the Committee, founding member of the Belgian Society of Radiobiology and president of this society (1985-1986) He was a member of the Board of Belgian Radiation Protection Society, he was a member and president of Group IV "chemical carcinogenesis" to the Belgian Superior Council of Cancer, member of the Belgian Society of Pathology, member and president, member of the Council of Welfare of Animals at the Ministry of Health and Family and a member of the Ethic Committee and Vice Chairman of the Committee of the same ministry. He served as member of the American Association for the Advancement of science and member of the New York Academy of Science. He is a recipient of the Medal "Hanns-Langendorff" of the German Association of Radiology in 1994 and of the Bacq and Alexander medal of the European Society of Radiation Biology in 1997. He has been decorated Great officer Order of Crown, Commander Order of Leopold II, Officer Order of Leopold. Dr. Maisin is married to Claudine Derrider, he is father of three and grandfather of six flawless grandchildren.

1998: G.W. Barendsen (Netherlands)

		

G.W.(Eddie) Barendsen was born in 1927 in the town Groningen, The Netherlands. After finishing high school in 1945, he studied at the State University Groningen. The main subjects were mathematics, physics, chemistry and astronomy, with philosophy and psychology as extra-curricular interests The candidate degree was awarded early in 1948. These studies were interrupted in 1948 due to the obligatory draft in the Dutch army. He finished the military duties as communications officer in early 1950. The doctoral degree was awarded in 1953. From late 1950 he carried out experiments on proportional counters filled with CO2 at high pressures applied for age determinations of archaeological and geological specimens by the measurement of their C-14 radioactivity. He obtained his PhD from Groningen University in 1955. The title of the thesis: “Age determination by measurement of radioactive carbon”. From 1955 to 1956 he continued research on radiocarbon dating as a research associate at the Geochronometric Laboratory of Yale University, New Haven, USA, implementing the proportional counter system developed at Groningen University and developing a scintillation counting system for the C-14 radioactivity. In 1956 he started radiation research as the first biophysicist staff-member and later associate-director of the newly founded Radiobiological Institute (RBI), part of the Health Organization of the Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) in Rijswijk, The Netherlands (1956-1990). From 1957 to 1992 he carried out and guided investigations in biophysics, radiobiology and experimental oncology: A, Effectiveness of different types of ionising radiations for damage to mammalian cells in culture. B, Effectiveness of X-rays and fast neutrons for responses of transplantable tumours in animals C, Studies of late responding normal tissues in animals after irradiation with fractionated doses of X-rays and fast neutrons D, Clinical applications of fast neutrons in the RBI and in the Netherlands Cancer Centre, A v Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, with Dr.K. Breur, Dr. H. van Peperzeel, Dr. J. Broerse and Dr. J. Batterman. E , Studies on chromosome aberrations and cell transformation in cultured mammalian cells with Dr. J Zoetelief, RBI, Rijswijk and Dr. J.A.Aten and Dr. N.A.P.Franken, Laboratory for Radiobiology and Experimental Oncology, Medical Faculty, University of Amsterdam. F, Studies on combined radiotherapy-chemotherapy effectiveness with cultured cells and experimental tumours G, Microdosimetry of high-LET particles

University appointments. 1958-1970, Lecturer, Institute for Radiation Pathology and Radiation Protection, Leiden University 1968, Visiting Professor, Department of Biophysics, University of California at Berkeley, USA. 1968-1970, Associate Professor in Experimental Radiotherapy, Erasmus University, Rotterdam. 1970-1992, Professor of Radiobiology and Experimental Oncology, Medical Faculty, University of Amsterdam. 1984, Consultant Life Sciences Division, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, NM, USA 1992---, Emeritus Professor, University of Amsterdam

Memberships societies and councils (selection) Netherlands Society for Radiobiology (1959-- ), Secretary-Treasurer (1967-1974), President (1974-1976) Health Council of The Netherlands (1968-1997). Committee Radiation Hygiene. Queen Wilhelmina Fund, Dutch Cancer Society, Scientific Council, (1978-1992). Dutch Organization for Biophysics, Councillor (1968-1974). Maurits and Anna de Kock Fund for the promotion of cancer research, Secretary (1974-1993) and chairman (1981-1993). Inter-University Institute Radiation Pathology and Radiation Protection, member of the board (1980-1992), chairman scientific advisory board (1992-2005). Department of Therapeutic and Biological Radiology, Medical faculty, University of Amsterdam, chairman 1980-1992. International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), member and vice-chairman Committee 1 (1968-1992) International Association Radiation Research (ICRR), Councillor (1970-1979) European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Advisor Radiobiology (1974-1092). European Organization for Research on treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Secretary fast neutron therapy project group (1978-1982). International Union on Pure and Applied Biophysics, Committee on Radiation and Environmental Biophysics (1974-1978). Scientific Programme Committee 7th International Congress Radiation Research, held in Amsterdam 1983, Chairman 1979-1983.

Awards: 1950: Royal Dutch Shell student award for personal development. 1976: Dutch Radiological Society, Wertheim-Salomonson award. 1986: European Society for Radiation Oncology, Klaas Breur award 1990: Order of Oranje Nassou, Officer 1998: European Society for Radiation Biology, Bacq and Alexander award.

Publications: More than 300 in scientific journals. Co-editor of several volumes on High-LET radiotherapy Promotor- Thesis-advisor of about 30 PhD candidates Editorial Boards: International Journal of Radiobiology, Biomedicine, Radiotherapy and Oncology, Journal European de Radiotherapy, Oncology, Radiophysique, Radiobiologie.

1999: Johan Broerse (Netherlands)

Johannes Jacobus (Johan) Broerse was born in Amsterdam in 1934. He studied nuclear and molecular physics at the University of Amsterdam. During his military service he worked at the Technology Laboratory of the Defense Research Organisation TNO. In 1961 he joined the staff of the Radiobiological Institute TNO at Rijswijk and performed research in dosimetry and radiobiology of fast neutrons resulting in a thesis on this subject in 1966. His further investigations were connected with the late effects of ionizing radiation. In cooperation with his younger colleague dr. Hans Zoetelief he performed international X-ray dosimetry intercomparisons and formulated dosimetry protocols for radiobiology. In 1974 he had a temporary position at the Department of Radiology, Stanford University USA. He was appointed as professor of Medical Radiation Physics at the University of Leiden in 1986. Subsequently he and his associates performed research on radiation carcinogenesis in experimental animals and on dose reduction and optimization in diagnostic radiology. After his retirement in 1999 which was obligatory in the Netherlands, he fulfilled some advisory functions, including membership of the Dutch Health Council. With a committee of this Council he finalized in 2007 a report on the risks of exposure to ionizing radiation.

Professor Broerse carried numerous functions. Among others, he was a member of the EORTC Fast Neutron Therapy Project Group, council member of the European Late Effects Project Group (EULEP), chairman of the Committee on Dosimetry Standardization (EULEP), chairman of the Report Committee on Neutron Dosimetry for Biology and Medicine(ICRU), member of the International Neutron Dosimetry Intercomparison Committee (ICRU), chairman of the European Clinical Neutron Dosimetry Group (ECNEU), treasurer of the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS), president of the European Society for Radiation Biology from 1980 to 1982, president of the Dutch Radiobiological Society, secretary-treasurer for the International Association for Radiation Research and its president from 1995-1999. He was the secretary-general for the 7th Internation Congress of Radiation Research held in Amsterdam in 1983. He received several rewards among others the Award of the "Damon Runyon Memorial Fund" for fundamental physical and biological studies related to neutron radiotherapy in 1967, the Dr Nagai Peace Memorial Prize for fundamental research in radiobiology and radiation protection in Nagasaki in 2000 and the Hans Langendorff medal of the German Association of Radiology in 2004. He was elected Knight in the order of Orange Nassau for outstanding service to the state and society and honorary member of the Swedish Radiobiological Society, the British Association for Radiation Research, the European Late Effects Project Group (EULEP) and the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS).

2007: Iza Szumiel (Poland)

Professor Irena (Iza) Szumiel started her scientific career as biochemist at the Warsaw University and entered the field of radiation biology in 1965 as adjunct at the Institute of Nuclear Research. She recalls that before starting work at the Department of Radiobiology and Health Protection she asked for a radiobiology textbook at the Department. She got a copy of Bacq and Alexander Fundamentals of Radiobiology in French (the English copy was in constant use), read it during her summer vacation and thus prepared began investigations of factors that define cellular radiation sensitivity. This turned to be her favourite topic until now, studied with the use of the L5178Y (LY) murine lymphoma cell model consisting of 2 sublines that differ in radiation sensitivity and many phenotypic features. The role of metal ions in sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide was established in the above cellular model with Dr Marcin Kruszewski as the main co-author. The LY sublines were shown to differ in the content of iron and copper ions in the nuclei and hence, in the extent of Fenton reaction that generates OH radicals. Accordingly – the DNA damage inflicted by hydrogen peroxide treatnent was higher in the LY subline that exhibited higher sensitivity to oxidants and higher iron content. Adaptive response of human lymphocytes was subject of a series of papers with Dr Maria Wojewódzka as the main co-author. The role of cellular signalling involving calcium ions and protein kinase C activity was shown to be crucial for the development of the adaptive response, whereas the kinetics of DNA repair did not show any changes that could be causally related to radioaadaptation. Mechanisms of the cellular response to camptothecin were studied with the use of the same cellular L5178Y model in cooperation with biochemists from the Warsaw University, with Professor Krzysztof Staroń and Dr Iwona Grądzka as the main co-authors. Cytotoxic and radiosensitising activity of anti-tumour platinum complexes – this topic comprises studies in vitro carried out with the late Professor Nias in 1974-1982 and a recent work on novel complexes synthesised by Professor Kuduk (Wroclaw University).

Professor Szumiel is author or co-author of 117 papers listed in PubMed and numerous review papers in Polish journals. She obtained twice (1973, 1979) an award of the National Council for Atomic Energy for studies in the field of radiobiology; in 1976, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2004 – 5 awards of the Polish Association for Radiation Research for studies in the field of cellular radiobiology; other honours include in 1998 - Maria Sklodowska-Curie medal from the Polish Radiation Research Society; in 2001 – Hanns Langendorff medal from the German Radiation Protection Medical Association.

Eric Wright is Professor of Experimental Haematology at the University of Dundee Medical School. He is a graduate of the University of Sussex and obtained his PhD from the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Manchester. After research fellowships in the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester, in 1980 he was appointed Lecturer in Cellular Pathology at the University of St Andrews. In 1987 he moved to the Medical Research Council’s Radiobiology Unit at Harwell (subsequently re-titled the Radiation and Genome Stability Unit) where he held senior posts until 1999 when he moved to the Chair of Experimental Haematology in The University of Dundee.

Prof Wright is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and a Fellow of the Institute of Biology with a long-standing interest in the regulation of the haemopoietic system and the mechanisms underlying abnormalities of stem cell function, such as bone marrow failure and leukaemia development, as a consequence of radiation injury. In the 1980s his laboratory demonstrated that haemopoietic stem cell proliferation is controlled spatially and temporally by interactions within the bone marrow microenvironment and identified and characterized mechanisms contributing to this regulation including effects resulting from a number of specific gene mutations and exposure to ionizing radiation. In the 1990s he worked with a model of radiation-induced acute myeloid leukaemia and associated studies resulted in major publications describing radiation-induced chromosomal instability. More recently his research has focussed on how genetic factors influence cellular and molecular responses to radiation injury and how inflammatory-type responses contribute to the development of longer-term pathological changes.

Prof Wright is the Director of the Leukaemia Research Fund’s Specialist Programme in Radiation Leukaemogenesis and in 1999 was awarded The David Anderson-Berry Medal of The Royal Society of Edinburgh in recognition of “his outstanding work on cellular, genetic and molecular respects of radiation-induced genomic instability in relation to the development of leukaemia and other diseases”. In 2004 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2007 he was honoured with the Weiss Medal of the Association for Radiation Research, the Bacq Alexander Award of the European Radiation Research Society and was elected a Fellow of the BIR.

Currently he is the Research Dean of the University of Dundee’s Medical School and in recent years has been a Member of The Department of Health’s Committee on Medical Effects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), Associate Editor of Radiation Research, a member of the Editorial Board of Haematological Oncology, and the Steering Committee of the UK Academic Clinical Oncology and Radiobiology Research Network.. He has also been a member of the UK Government Committee Examining the Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters (CERRIE), the Scottish Executive’s Genetics in Scotland Review Group, the US Department of Energy’s Low Dose Radiation Research Programme Grants Committee, a specialist examiner for the Royal College of Radiologists Faculty of Clinical Oncology He has served as Chair of the Radiation and Cancer Biology Committee of The British Institute of Radiology, the Trustees of the LH Gray Memorial Trust, the Association for Radiation Research, the Scientific Advisory Committee of The Association for International Cancer Research, the Grants Committee of Children with Leukaemia and NASA’s Specialized Centers of Research Grants Committee.

Professor Salomaa was trained in genetics and started her research career in genetic toxicology (chemical mutagenesis) at the Institute of Occupational health in 1981. She was appointed as Docent (Adjunct Professor) in Genetics at the University of Helsinki in 1990. Since 1987 she has worked for STUK - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland, first as a scientist then as a senior scientist. In 1992 she was appointed as the Director of Laboratory for Biodosimetry and, since 1997 as Research Director of STUK. The research activities of STUK, under directorship of professor Salomaa, cover various aspects of radiation protection including health, environment, medical exposures, dosimetry and emergency preparededness. In the national level, she has served committees and advisory groups related to environmental health research, nuclear energy, defense, medicine and national security research program. Professor Salomaa has also served as advisor to IAEA in Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications (SAGNA), in European Commission’s Article 31 Group, as Director of WHO’s Collaborating Centre and in Expert Group on the Implications of Radiation Protection Science of OECD/NEA. Her membership of Executive Council of International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) that started in 2004 will continue until 2012. She also joined the ICRP Committee 1 in 2009. Professor Salomaa has coordinated several multi-national EU research contracts, particularly on non-targeted effects and low dose risk. She is a member of the High Level Expert Group on Low Dose Risk that established the low dose risk research strategy for Europe.

Jolyon H. Hendry obtained a BSc degee in Physics followed by MSc, PhD, and DSc degees in Radiation Biology. He is a radiation biologist with much knowledge of radiation effects on cells and cell constituents, tissues, tumours, organs, animals and humans. Also, he worked on radiobiological mechanisms with reference to improvements in radiotherapy through application of dose-time-fractionation principles, target-cell concepts, predictive biological assays and response modification, analyses of radiotherapy outcome data to deduce values of radiobiological parameters, and radiation effects related to radiation protection.

For many years he was Head of the Experimental Radiation Oncology group at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital, Manchester, UK. Also, he was a consultant to UNSCEAR; a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Radiation, the UK Government’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), UK Cancer Research committees, British Institute of Radiology and ESTRO committees; a member of working groups of the Royal Society, Health Protection Agency, ICRP and IAEA; chairman of the UK Association for Radiation Research and the LH Gray Trust; and Chief Editor of the International Journal of Radiation Biology for 7 years. He was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China, in 1991, Honorary Membership of the UK Royal College of Radiologists in 1993, an Honorary Chair in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manchester in 1995, and from 2006 he has been a Senior Consultant to the Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing. He has been a member of ICRP Committee 1 since 1993, and secretary since 2005. From 2002-07 he was staff member and later Acting Head of the Section of Applied Radiobiology and Radiotherapy in the Division of Human Health, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, running co-ordinated research and teaching programmes in Radiation Biology applied to Radiotherapy, in particular in developing countries.

He has supervised 16 PhD students and published 250 primary scientific publications, 80 review and conference proceedings articles, 30 correspondence articles to journals, 1 co-authored book and 6 co-edited books. He was a Cancer Research UK core grant holder for many years until 2002, and he also had 20 research grants from oncology and radiation related funding agencies. He was awarded the Roentgen Prize from the British Institute of Radiology in 1982, and the Weiss Medal from the UK Association of Radiation Research in 1999. Since 2007 he has been affiliated to the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology at the University of Oxford, developing an MSc course in Radiation Biology that started in October 2009, and he is also a Consultant to the Christie Hospital in Manchester.

Penelope (Penny) A Jeggo graduated in microbiology at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London and obtained a PhD in Genetics in Robin Holliday’s laboratory at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London.  She then undertook post doctoral fellowships with John Cairns at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and Miroslav Radman at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belguim, before returning in 1980 to Robin Holliday’s laboratory and commencing work on the DNA damage responses in mammalian cells. In 1989 she moved to the MRC’s Cell Mutation Unit at the University of Sussex and when the Unit closed in 2001 became a founding member of the Genome Damage and Stability Centre at the University of Sussex. She became a Professorial Fellow of the University of Sussex in 2003.

Prof Jeggo’s early work focused on studying DNA damage responses in lower organisms, but since 1980 she has predominantly focused on the process of DNA double strand break repair in mammalian cells. She isolated the xrs mutants from a mammalian cultured cell line, which have been used world wide to study the process of DNA double strand break repair. In 2004 she showed that the xrs mutants were mutated in Ku80, identifying the first gene involved in DNA non homologous end joining as well as the development of the immune response. Subsequently, she showed that the gene mutated in the Severe Combined Immunodeficient (SCID) mouse encodes the DNA dependent protein kinase, DNA-PKcs, which together with Ku forms the DNA-PK complex.  These represented important findings underpinning subsequent insight into DNA double strand break repair and its role during immune development. These findings led to a search for radiosensitive and immunodeficient patients and the identification of LIG4 Syndrome, the first of several human disorders with defects in DNA double strand break repair and V(D)J recombination.

Throughout her research career, Prof Jeggo has had a deep interest in radiation biology and the issues raised by its use for radiotherapeutic and diagnostic purposes, including aspects of radiation protection. Prof Jeggo has served as a member of an international laboratory at the National Institute for Radiation Science in Chiba, Japan. She has been a member of ICRP and AGIR subgroups evaluating radiation effects, is a member of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), a member of the MELODI committee and a committee member for UK’s ARR. She has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the EMF Biological Research Trust and CRUK’s Science Funding Committee. She is on the Editorial board of Oncogene, DNA Repair, Nucleic Acids Research, the Biochemical Journal and International Journal of Radiation Biology. She has > 170 publications and eleven PhD students have gained PhD’s in her laboratory.