Gayle E. Woloschak
Northwestern University, IL·Biophysics
When radioactive material is inhaled or swallowed after a nuclear accident, a dirty bomb, or a medical mishap, the radiation does not spread evenly through the body. It collects in certain organs, in parts of organs, and even in certain cells.
- Fields
Biophysics
Physics
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
internal radionuclide contamination
internal emitters
radiobiology
- Grants
- 4 known grants, through Feb 2027
What they work on
- Develop stochastic, physiologically based biokinetic models of inhaled radionuclides using realistic release source terms and the ICRP 133 human respiratory tract model, producing dose coefficients specific to age, sex and body size.
- Build a computational fluid and particle dynamics model of particle intake through the mouth and lungs, and combine machine learning with pharmacokinetic models to reconstruct radionuclide uptake and excretion and gauge decorporation drug efficacy.
- Develop an in-vivo radiological triage body scanning system tied to stochastic biokinetics, so responders can reconstruct how much radioactive material a person took in and monitor decorporation therapy.
- Map radionuclide distribution in archived canine and murine tissues from the Northwestern University Radiation Animal Archive using X-ray fluorescence microscopy, which images elements in tissue sections at micro and nano scales.
- Link elemental maps of radionuclide deposition to biological markers of exposure, including DNA damage, cell death, microRNA expression and macrophage infiltration in the surrounding tissue.
- Establish biokinetic profiles in adult and juvenile animal models and test whether a new decorporation agent given after exposure prevents long-term lung deposition and damage from inhaled radioactive particulates.
More about the research
Tools for estimating dose and planning treatment were built mainly for workplace protection and lean on models of external radiation beams, so they miss this unevenness. This multi-project program tests the idea that radioactive atoms, or radionuclides, must be tracked across scales, from whole tissues down to cells and molecules, to predict harm and build countermeasures. It combines radiation physics, chemistry and biology, and weighs each radionuclide's half-life, particle size, chemical form and route of entry together with the exposed body's age, sex, genetics and immune response.
Why it matters
A radiological accident, dirty bomb or nuclear detonation could internally contaminate large numbers of people. This program could give responders dose estimates that account for age, sex and realistic exposure scenarios, a body-scanning approach for triage, biomarkers showing who was exposed and how severely, and evidence for a drug that clears inhaled radionuclides from the lungs.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Frederic Zenhausern
University of Arizona, AZ·Biomedical Engineering
Develop paper-compatible biodosimetry assays that distinguish radiation doses below 2 gray from 2 gray and above, using sandwich immunoassays for radiation-responsive leukocyte proteins and an amplification-free chemistry that detects DNA:RNA hybrids for transcripts.
Ravikumar Majeti
University of Alabama, AL·Pharmacology
Synthesize polyesters with controlled topologies and use them to probe transcytosis, the ferrying of particles through cells, at the gut-blood barrier across in vitro, in vivo, and in silico experiments in preclinical species.
Sally Amundson
Columbia University, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether MIIST305, a drug that protects the gut from x-ray damage, also improves survival and reduces gut injury in rats exposed to nuclear-device-spectrum neutrons or ultra-high dose rate radiation.
The school
Northwestern University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 536 research doctorates a year.
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