Health Physics Society
Northern California Chapter


Meeting November 2005

Short CV of Dr. Matthew Coleman
Biosciences at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), working on understanding ionizing radiation effects by comparing gene _expression and proteomic changes in mammalian systems. His experiments have focused on defining a correlation for global gene _expression patterns in response to low doses of ionizing radiation (< 10 cGy, ~ <1 Rem). His technical training is in molecular biology where he received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts in 1987, and his Ph.D. in biophysical studies of proteins from Boston University in 1997. Dr. Coleman then completed a post-doctoral fellow at LLNL developing and applying genomic technologies. He has authored over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, published abstracts and book chapters covering a diverse breadth of molecular and biochemical biology as well as bioinformatics.

Summary of the November presentation
It is well established that high-dose exposures to ionizing radiation (IR) leads to diverse pathologies of skin and other tissues and to serious late-onset diseases including cancers. The long-term objectives of this research are to investigate the early cellular effects of low-dose exposures (100 mrem - 1 rem) in human cells and to determine whether the early changes in gene _expression (mRNA or protein) of specific gene/pathways are associated with subsequent risk for cytogenetic damage. This project will provide new knowledge of the early cellular responses to low-dose IR to reduce the uncertainty of assessing risk at low-dose levels. It is also expected to identify genes whose _expression is associated with low dose IR exposure and susceptibility for other low dose related responses. The outcome of this research may have a strong scientific impact on the validity of the linear no-threshold model in health physics.