Books and book chapters/Dubois A, King GL, Livengood DR (eds) (1995) Radiation and the Gastrointestinal Tract

The book evolved from a September 1993 international symposium sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department of Defense's Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). The symposium was supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania firm U.S. Bioscience as well as the British firms SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals and Rorer Rhone Poulenc.

In the foreword, the editors describe the field of study as "particularly important because of growing medical needs and because of the documented occurrence of [radiation] accidents involving overexposure of healthy subjects and/or patients." A unique relationship exists between basic scientists and clinicians in this field because, according to the editors, "answers to some of the clinically relevant questions posed by such scenarios have been reached through cellular and animal research, and the results obtained lead to hypotheses that have been tested through clinical protocols."

Contributors represent 12 U.S. and British organizations that include, in addition to the sponsors and supporters, Glaxo Research Institute, North Carolina; Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts; Spellman College, Georgia; Hines Veterans Administration Medical Center, Illinois; Lehigh Valley Hospital Center, Pennsylvania; Medical College of Wisconsin, Wisconsin; University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa; and The Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom.

The authors in each of 38 articles describe their most recent data, present a consensus, and discuss what investigations are still needed. The coeditors are Andre Dubois, MD, PhD, of USUHS and Gregory L. King, PhD, and David R. Livengood, PhD, both of AFRRI. Both organizations are in Bethesda, Maryland.