Download Seminar Modelling Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation (WISM409

Seminar Modelling Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation (WISM409)
Ionizing radiation is everywhere. Even while you are reading this, you are being exposed to natural background
radiation. Despite decades of research, the risks of exposure to such low doses of radiation remain ill understood.
In this seminar we will see why this is the case and what research is currently being carried out to improve our
understanding of the long-term health effects of exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation.
It is well known that high doses of ionizing radiation can cause health problems: almost seventy years after the
explosion of two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, survivors still have an increased
risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular disease. For high doses, epidemiological studies and animal
experiments combined have shown how the risk of developing cancer depends on dose and dose rate. In daily life,
people are exposed to radiation at doses that usually are much lower than those relevant for the A-bomb
survivors. Current radiation protection measures are based on the so-called Linear-No-Threshold hypothesis: the
assumption that the relationship between dose and risk of cancer is linear. This is by no means a scientific fact,
but rather a practical assumption formulated by an international committee. LNT allows for easy extrapolation of
the effects seen in the A-bomb survivors. It cannot be ruled out, however, that at low doses different biological
mechanisms apply, leading to a different shape of the dose response curve. This would imply that current radiation
protection measures provide an undesirably low level of public health protection, if risks are underestimated. It is
also possible that they are unnecessarily restrictive (and expensive!), if risks are overestimated. Therefore,
improved knowledge of health effects of exposure to radiation, in addition to scientific interests, has important
applications.
Progress in the field of radiation protection requires an interdisciplinary approach with an important mathematical
component, leading to efficient models and performing algorithms. The seminar is intended as a general
introduction to these mathematical challenges. No previous knowledge of the physical or biological aspects of the
phenomenon is required. Furthermore, the seminar is open to interested students from other departments and
faculties with basic undergraduate mathematical background.
The seminar will start off with a general introduction to radiation research and its mathematical treatment. Topics
will be subsequently assigned to students depending on their interest and background. A partial list of possible
topics include:
1. The physics of the interaction of radiation with matter.
2. simulations of track structure, with emphasis on different types of radiation: photons (gamma radiation, X-rays),
ions, neutron and protons.
3. The biology of DNA damage and repair.
4. Non-targeted effects.
5. Epidemiological studies of radiation risk.
6. Mathematical models for radiation induced cancer and cardiovascular disease.
7. Numerical implementation of models.
Prerequisites: basic knowledge of calculus, linear algebra (eigen values) and differential equations.
Students from other masters than Mathematical sciences or Physics (such as Biology, Computer Science,
Medicine) are also welcome, if they do not fear mathematical formulas and have basic knowledge of the
prerequisites.
The seminar will be led by Fieke Dekkers from RIVM (the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment).
For more information, send an email to [email protected].
Internships at RIVM may be available to students participating in the seminar.
References:
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Modeling dose deposition and DNA damage due to low-energy β(-) emitters.
Alloni D, Cutaia C, Mariotti L, Friedland W, Ottolenghi A.
Radiat Res. 2014 Sep;182(3):322-30. doi: 10.1667/RR13664.1. Epub 2014 Aug 12.
A two-mutation model of radiation-induced acute myeloid leukemia using historical mouse data. Dekkers
F, Bijwaard H, Bouffler S, Ellender M, Huiskamp R, Kowalczuk C, Meijne E, Sutmuller M.
Radiat Environ Biophys. 2011 Mar;50(1):37-45. doi: 10.1007/s00411-010-0328-7. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
Ionizing radiation and leukemia mortality among Japanese Atomic Bomb Survivors, 1950-2000.
Richardson D, Sugiyama H, Nishi N, Sakata R, Shimizu Y, Grant EJ, Soda M, Hsu WL, Suyama A,
Kodama K, Kasagi F.
Radiat Res. 2009 Sep;172(3):368-82. doi: 10.1667/RR1801.1.
Radiation exposure and circulatory disease risk: Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor data,
1950-2003. Shimizu Y, Kodama K, Nishi N, Kasagi F, Suyama A, Soda M, Grant EJ, Sugiyama H, Sakata
R, Moriwaki H, Hayashi M, Konda M, Shore RE. BMJ. 2010 Jan 14;340:b5349. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b5349.
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