Title: |
RECENT RESEARCH RESULTS FROM THE RUSSIAN HEALTH STUDIES PROGRAM |
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Speaker: |
Dr. Barrett Fountos |
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Affiliation: |
US Department of Energy |
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When: |
Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 11:00:00 AM |
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Where: |
MARC Building, Room 114 |
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Host: |
Nolan Hertel | |
Abstract The Joint Coordinating Committee for Radiation Effects Research (JCCRER) Program assesses worker and public health risks from radiation exposure resulting from nuclear weapons production activities in the former Soviet Union. This work results from the bi-national agreement between the United States and Russia called the JCCRER Agreement, which was signed in 1994, renewed in 2000 and again in 2007 through 2009, and is in the process of being renewed through 2014. The JCCRER Agreement established the legal framework for U.S. and Russian scientists to collaborate on radiation effects research. The products of the program are peer-reviewed publications on cancer risk estimates from worker and community exposure to ionizing radiation following the production of nuclear weapons in Russia. Radiation cancer risk estimates, in turn, will be used to validate and/or revise national and international radiation protection standards and practices. JCCRER projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) comprise the Russian Health Studies Program. |
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Biography Barrett N. (Barry) Fountos has over 31 years of public and private sector experience in occupational and environmental epidemiology, during which time he worked in 3 Federal agencies and 3 consulting firms, one of which was his own firm, Health and Environmental Research Associates (HERA), Inc. Mr. Fountos received his Bachelor's degree in Biology, cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University and his Master's degree in Preventive Medicine from the Ohio State University, where he majored in epidemiology and minored in biostatistics. Since 2002, Mr. Fountos has managed the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Russian Health Studies Program, which assesses worker and public health risks from exposure to radiation during the production of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union. Cancer risk estimates derived from the research are used to revise radiation protection standards. Previously, he managed radiation health effects research programs in Belarus and Ukraine (Chernobyl) and in Spain (Palomares). Prior to joining the Office of International Health Studies, Mr. Fountos served as an epidemiologist in DOE's Office of Epidemiologic Studies where he facilitated researcher access to site-specific data needed for conducting health studies at former nuclear weapons facilities. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fountos developed health regulations at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers from exposure to toxic substances and at the Environmental Protection Agency to the test existing products for adverse health effects. His work also includes designing a historical prospective study of former residents of a Superfund site in Puerto Rico. |