Investigate how differences in the biophysical features of
radiation tracks determine biological response to evaluate
impact on human health and facilitate radiation work across the
Institute. Everybody is exposed to ionising radiation throughout
his or her lives, either from natural sources, most notably
radon gas, or artificial sources, such as medical exposures.
Ionising radiation can cause malignant diseases in people
exposed to it and inherited defects in later generations.
However, exposure to radiation can also be beneficial and is
widely used in medicine for both diagnosis (diagnostic radiology
and nuclear medicine) and in the treatment of cancer
(radiotherapy). Increased understanding of the mechanisms of
radiation damage and response is important, not only to improve
the assessment of the risk associated with exposure but also in
optimising cancer treatment. Additionally the benefit of any
medical examination using ionizing radiation has to be weighed
up against the inherent risk associated with an