HPS Member Robert Brent Honored
The
Teratology Society recently honored Health Physics Society (HPS) member
Robert L. Brent, MD, PhD, by establishing an annual lecture in his
honor in recognition of his contributions to the society and
particularly to the implementation of the "Teratogen Update." The
Teratology Society studies the causes and biological processes leading
to abnormal development and birth defects and studies appropriate measures for
prevention. The purpose of the Robert L. Brent lecture is to facilitate
the discussion of new and old teratogens during the society's annual meeting. The first Robert L. Brent lecture was delivered by John Rogers
PhD, director of the Reproductive Toxicology Division of the
Environmental Protection Agency. The title of his presentation was a
review of "the reproductive and developmental risks of methanol" and it
was presented at the annual Teratology meeting on 26 June 2006.
Dr. Brent is an HPS Ask the Experts topic editor for the pregnancy and
radiation category. He is the Distinguished Louis and Bess Stein
Professor of Pediatrics, Radiology, and Pathology and head of the
Clinical and Environmental Teratology Laboratory at Jefferson Medical
College and duPont Hospital for Children. He obtained all of his
degrees from the University of Rochester and did his pediatric training
at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was chief of radiation biology at
the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and in 1957 came to
Jefferson, where he has been primarily involved in research dealing
with the causes and prevention of birth defects and reproductive
problems. He has authored over 510 publications, including six books,
and has made four movies. He belongs to 15 scientific societies, was
one of the founding members and president of the Teratology Society,
and was editor of the journal Teratology for 17 years. He was chairman
of the Department of Pediatrics for 30 years and, during that period,
his research was continuously funded by the National Institutes of
Health. He has received many honors, including every award offered by
his medical school, the most coveted of which was his selection as the
third Distinguished Professor in Jefferson's 175-year history. He is a
member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
Sciences. His university has further honored him by creating the Robert
L. Brent Professorship for the chairman of pediatrics at Jefferson and
at the A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, where Brent's
laboratory is now located. The Health Physics Society honored him in
2000 with the Robley Evans Award for his lifelong accomplishments in
the field of radiation biology and for the counseling that he provides
women of reproductive age with regard to the reproductive risks of
radiation and other environmental exposures.