What if a major radiation incident happened during a pandemic? – Considerations of the impact on biodosimetry

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 There is a related white paper in preparation by the same authors reporting the lessons learned from the biodosimetry community’s actual participation in planning and responding to COVID-19. This report, in contrast, focuses on the possibility of there being the dual need for biodosimetry laboratories and experts to help with a major radiation incident and a pandemic.

2 COVID-19 is used throughout the rest of the paper in a generic sense of referring to a world-wide infectious based pandemic, unless otherwise specified.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Harold M. Swartz

Harold M. Swartz, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor in the Radiology Department, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH USA.

Ruth C. Wilkins

Ruth C. Wilkins, Ph.D, is the Chief of the Ionizing Radiation Health Sciences Division and a Research Scientist at the Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau of Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

Elizabeth Ainsbury

Elizabeth Ainsbury, PhD, is a Radiation Protection Scientist with Public Health England’s Center for Chemical, Radiological and Environmental Hazards, Chilton, Didcot, Oxford, UK.

Matthias Port

Matthias Port, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Radiobiology. He is a Senior Researcher as well as Head of the Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology, Genomics I, Munich, Germany.

Ann Barry Flood

Ann Barry Flood, Ph.D., is a Professor of Radiology and Health Policy, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH USA.

François Trompier

François Trompier, Ph.D., is an Engineer and Researcher in the Department for Research on Dosimetry, IRSN, Fontenay-aux-roses, France.

Laurence Roy

Laurence Roy, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist in the Department for Research on the Biological and Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation, IRSN, Fontenay-aux-roses, France.

Steven G. Swarts

Steven G. Swarts, Ph.D., is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA.