Radiobiology Textbook

This open access textbook focuses on the various aspects of radiobiology. The goal of radiobiological research is to better understand the effects of radiation exposure at the cellular and molecular levels in order to determine the impact on health. This book offers a unique perspective, by covering not only radiation biology but also radiation physics, radiation oncology, radiotherapy, radiochemistry, radiopharmacy, nuclear medicine, space radiation biology & physics, environmental and human radiation protection, nuclear emergency planning, molecular biology and bioinformatics, as well as the ethical, legal and social considerations related to radiobiology. This range of disciplines contributes to making radiobiology a broad and rather complex topic. This textbook is intended to provide a solid foundation to those interested in the basics and practice of radiobiological science. It is a learning resource, meeting the needs of students, scientists and medical staff with an interest in this rapidly evolving discipline, as well as a teaching tool, with accompanying teaching material to help educators.

Prof. Dr. Sarah Baatout is the director of the Radiobiology Unit at SCK CEN (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre), a Foundation of Public Utility, Mol, Belgium. She is also guest-professor at Ghent University and KULeuven (Belgium) teaching and directing research in the field of radiation biology, radiation protection, space biology and medicine for many years. She obtained a Master in Biology from UCLouvain, Belgium and holds a PhD in Biochemistry in the field of oncology.

For more than 25 years, she has been investigating the impact of ionizing radiation on health through the development of improvement of radiotherapy treatments for cancer patients and the protection of healthy tissues during cancer treatment such as the cardiovascular system or cognitive functions. She also has an extensive experience in the discovery of innovative biomarkers for radiation response in view of future development of personalized medicine of patients and astronauts. She also contributes to the development of targeted radiopharmaceuticals for better cancer diagnostics and therapy. The final goal of her work is to ensure a better risk prediction and understanding of radiation susceptibility of each individual.

Sarah Baatout is Rapporteur and Belgian representative at the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), secretary/treasurer of the European Radiation Research Society (ERRS), and member of two advisory committees to the European Space Agency ([Human Spaceflight & Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC) and European Space Science Committee (ESSC)]. She has been the (co-)promoter of fifteen PhD students and supervised five Postdoctoral students. She is the (co-)author of some 150 international papers. She was awarded the prestigious Wetrems prize by the Royal Academy for Sciences and Arts of Belgium for the best discovery in the field of natural sciences. Recently, she also received the award for the ＂BeSpace personality of the year＂, a recognition of her research and outreach achievement in the space sector.