A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate causes of phenomena, and usually frame their understanding in mathematical terms. They work across a wide range of research fields, spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic and particle physics, through biological physics, to cosmological length scales encompassing the universe as a whole. The field generally includes two types of physicists: experimental physicists who specialize in the observation of natural phenomena and the development and analysis of experiments, and theoretical physicists who specialize in mathematical modeling of physical systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena.
Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been included as a health profession according to International Standard Classification of Occupation of the International Labour Organization.
A radiation therapist, therapeutic radiographer or radiotherapist is an allied health professional who works in the field of radiation oncology. Radiation therapists plan and administer radiation treatments to cancer patients in most Western countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, most European countries, and Canada, where the minimum education requirement is often a baccalaureate degree or postgraduate degrees in radiation therapy. Radiation therapists can also prescribe medications and radiation, interpret tests results, perform follow ups, reviews, and provide consultations to cancer patients in the United Kingdom and Ontario, Canada . In the United States, radiation therapists have a lower educational requirement and often require postgraduate education and certification in order to plan treatments.
Certified Health Physicist is an official title granted by the American Board of Health Physics, the certification board for health physicists in the United States. A Certified Health Physicist is designated by the letters CHP or DABHP after his or her name.
A medical physicist is a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields (specialties) of medical physics. A medical physicist plays a fundamental role in applying physics to medicine, but particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The scientific and technological progress in medical physics has led to a variety of skills that must be integrated into the role of a medical physicist in order for them to perform their job. The "medical services" provided to patients undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic treatments must, therefore, be the result of different but complementary skills. In general, the medical physicist is responsible for all scientific and technical aspects of imaging, radiation treatment, and radiation safety. It is their occupational role to ensure that medical modalities offered to patients are met with the utmost quality assurance. It is the medical physicist that manage and supervise the efforts of dosimetrists, therapists and technologists in that capacity.
The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), formerly the National Committee on Radiation Protection and Measurements, and before that the Advisory Committee on X-Ray and Radium Protection (ACXRP), is a U.S. organization. It has a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, but this does not imply any sort of oversight by Congress; NCRP is not a government entity.
John Carroll Taschner was a radiation biophysicist. He was a member of the technical staff in the Environment, Safety and Health Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory where he was involved in radiological transportation accident exercise planning.
The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) is a society of professional engineers and scientists who have demonstrated special expertise in environmental engineering or science beyond that normally required for professional practice. The principal purpose of the Academy is serving the public by improving the practice, elevating the standards, and advancing public recognition of environmental engineering and science through a program of specialty certification, similar to that used in healthcare and other professions.
The Health Physics Society (HPS) is a nonprofit scientific professional organization whose mission is excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety. It is based in the United States and the specific purposes of the society's activities include encouraging research in radiation science, developing standards, and disseminating radiation safety information. Society members are involved in understanding, evaluating, and controlling potential risks from radiation relative to the benefits.
David A. Schauer, ScD, CHP, is executive director emeritus of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). During his tenure a number of updated and new publications were issued by the Council.
Astronauts are exposed to approximately 72 millisieverts (mSv) while on six-month-duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Longer 3-year missions to Mars, however, have the potential to expose astronauts to radiation in excess of 1,000 mSv. Without the protection provided by Earth's magnetic field, the rate of exposure is dramatically increased. The risk of cancer caused by ionizing radiation is well documented at radiation doses beginning at 100 mSv and above.
Xie George Xu was the Edward E. Hood Chair Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, United States, before he relocated in 2020 to China and joined the faculty of the University of Science and Technology of China.
Eileen Gail de Planque was an American nuclear physicist. An expert on environmental radiation measurements, she was the first woman and first health physicist to become a commissioner at the US government's Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Her technical areas of expertise included environmental radiation, nuclear facility monitoring, personnel dosimetry, radiation shielding, radiation transport, and solid state dosimetry.
John Dunning Boice Jr. is an American radiation epidemiologist and health physicist.
Gioacchino Failla was an Italian-born American physicist. A pioneer in both biophysics and radiobiology, he was particularly noted for his work on the role of radiation as a cause of cancer and genetic mutation. He was born in Castelbuono in the Province of Palermo and emigrated with his family to the United States in 1906. After his retirement from Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research in 1960, he was appointed Senior Scientist Emeritus in the Radiological Physics Division of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. He was killed in a car accident near the laboratory at the age of 70.
James Newell Stannard is a radiobiologist, pharmacologist and physiologist at the National Institutes of Health.
G. William Morgan, also known as George William Morgan, health physicist and founding member of the Health Physics Society. Morgan held key health physics positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission. Morgan was instrumental in developing the regulations that we know today as I0 CFR 20, the Standards for Protection against Radiation.
Francis J. Bradley was an American health physicist, writer and founding member of the Health Physics Society.
Dade Moeller was an internationally known expert in radiation safety and environmental protection.
Caridad Borrás is a Spanish medical physicist. Her career started in 1964 at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona. From 1988 to 2000, she was Regional Advisor of the Radiological Health Program and, from 2000 to 2002, Coordinator of Essential Drugs and Technology at the Pan American Health Organization in Washington D.C.
