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- Charles Land Retires
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Charles Land Retires
Charles E. Land, Ph.D., retired in August from the Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB) after a 34-year career at NCI. Dr. Land is an internationally acclaimed statistical expert on radiation risk assessment and has carried out pioneering work in modern dose-response analysis and modeling of low-dose cancer risk.
Kiyohiko Mabuchi, Elaine Ron, Charles Land, Joseph Fraumeni, and Martha Linet.
Dr. Land earned a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago in 1968 and began his career studying radiation at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) in Hiroshima, where he conducted the first dose-response analysis of cancer risk in the Life Span Study cohort of atomic bomb survivors in collaboration with the late Dr. Gilbert Beebe. In 1975, Dr. Land joined NCI, where he became a founding member of REB. He continued collaborating with the ABCC and its successor, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, and led numerous other studies. In a series of seminal investigations, he and his colleagues clarified the pattern of breast cancer risk associated with radiation exposure. These studies provided new mechanistic insights into breast carcinogenesis, while serving as the prototype for epidemiologic studies of other radiogenic cancers.
Dr. Land was instrumental in elucidating the cancer risk following radioactive fallout from the U.S. nuclear weapons tests. In addition, he analyzed data for studies of global and other radioactive fallout scenarios, initiated a study of thyroid nodules among residents in radiation-contaminated Kazakhstan, developed statistical models for radiation-related probability of causation (known as the NIH radioepidemiological tables), and collaborated with other federal agencies to develop an online Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program that incorporated new risk estimates and statistical uncertainty.
Dr. Land's numerous awards and honors include the NIH Director's Award, the NCI Charles Harkin Award for Research in Thyroid Cancer, the USPHS Outstanding Service and Meritorious Service medals, and an NIH Merit Award. He has mentored many junior investigators, and he has been a valued advisor across NIH and the federal government as well as to numerous national and international radiation committees. He has been responsible for landmark radiation committee reports on a wide range of issues relating to radiation risk, including lung cancer, genetic susceptibility to cancer, uncertainty in risk estimates, and probability of disease causation, as well as a recent report of the International Commission on Radiological Protection on the extrapolation of radiation-related cancer risk.
To honor his distinguished scientific career, Dr. Land has been selected to present the Thirty-Fourth Lauriston S. Taylor Lecture at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Dr. Land plans to enjoy his retirement in Portugal, but he will continue to advise DCEG on the complex statistical issues associated with radiation-related cancer.
—Ruth A. Kleinerman, M.P.H., and Kiyohiko Mabuchi, M.D., Dr.P.H.
