Michael Stabin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Radiology & Radiological Sciences
Vanderbilt University
Monday, September 27, 2010 at 4:10 PM in Room 138 Featheringill Hall
ABSTRACT:
Radiation protection for many decades has been based in the idea that biological effects in human and other organisms can be explained by reference to the radiological quantity 'dose', which is defined as the energy deposited per unit mass of any substance, in particular, human tissue. Indeed, many gross responses of human tissues and the human organism as a whole appear to be explainable in reference to this simple quantity. Our understanding of the basis for this response has rested in the idea that a cell responds to radiation interactions with its DNA and either survives, mutates, or dies. There is now abundant evidence that this understanding is at least incomplete, and at most in need of complete reformation. In this talk, we will discuss the basic quantities and units that form the basis of radiation protection at present, in the context of many new research findings that challenge its rational underpinnings, and that suggest a new rationale for the discussion of radiation interaction with living tissue and observed effects.
BIOGRAPHY:
Michael Stabin is an associate professor in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. His work and interest is in the area of radiation dose calculations in nuclear medicine. He has developed several models, methods, and tools that have become widely used in the nuclear medicine community, including the MIRDOSE and OLINDA/EXM personal computer software codes for internal dose calculations. Dr. Stabin received his BS and ME at the University of Florida in Environmental Engineering with a Health Physics emphasis. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee in Nuclear Engineering with a Health Physics emphasis. Dr. Stabin has 27 years of practicing and teaching health physics and internal dosimetry.