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The Chernobyl Project at Columbia University: A Special Tribute to the Late Geoffrey Howe
On February 8, Lydia B. Zablotska, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology and principal investigator of The Chernobyl Project at Columbia University, led a presentation of research spanning ten years of findings by experts at the annual Geoffrey R. Howe Memorial Symposium.
Internationally renowned for his work in the area of cancer and the environment, the late Dr. Howe was one of the world’s leading radiation epidemiologists. He served as chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School from 1995-1999 and he served as principal investigator of the Chernobyl Project’s Radiation Epidemiology Branch with the National Cancer Institute from 1997-2006.
Allan Rosenfield, MD, dean, offered welcoming remarks, followed by introductions by Ezra Susser, MD, Anna Cheskis Gelman & Murray Charles Gelman Professor of Epidemiology, professor in Psychiatry, and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, and Alfred Neugut, MD, Myron M. Studner Professor of Cancer Research at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, and professor of Epidemiology.
Dr. Zablotska introduced the esteemed panelists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and members of the Chernobyl Project team who presented scientific findings and offered personal remembrances of Dr. Howe. Those participating from NCI included Ihor Masnyk, PhD, who gave an overview of the Chernobyl Project; Andree Bouville, PhD, involved in the estimation of radiation doses resulting from radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and who spoke about radiation doses resulting from the Chernobyl accident; and Elaine Ron, PhD, who conducts research on radiation workers, patients treated with radiation for benign and malignant diseases, populations exposed to environmental radiation, and studies the etiology of thyroid cancer tumors, addressed thyroid cancer risk and exposure to radiation from the Chernobyl accident. Maureen Hatch, PhD, presented findings on thyroid disease among individuals exposed to Chernobyl fallout in utero, and Alina Brenner, MD, informed the audience about thyroid disease following environmental exposure of the thyroid gland and cancer risks associated with a variety of radiation exposures. All of the presenters has worked with Dr. Howe on this project for many years.
Dr. Zablotska, whose research activities have focused on the study of the health effects of ionizing radiation and on nutritional epidemiology, particularly as it relates to cancer risk, presented her findings on the risk of leukemia among clean-up workers at Chernobyl. Over the years she has worked closely with her mentor, Dr. Howe, on the Chernobyl Project and other studies of radiation exposure.
The Geoffrey R. Howe Memorial Symposium was co-presented by the Research Seminars in Epidemiology and the Epidemiology Cancer Training Seminars. The main emphasis of this symposium was to showcase a spectrum of epidemiological research being conducted after the Chornobyl accident and to highlight Geoffrey Howe’s work in this area.
For further information on Dr. Zablotska’s research, please visit the article found in the Research section of this issue of At the Frontline.
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