Radioprotection
Radiation exposure is a growing health concern due to both radiation treatment for pathologies and the potential for broad radiation exposure due to technological disasters. Understanding how radiation harms the human body is essential to future mitigation treatments. The hematopoietic system is highly sensitive to radiation with anemia, a lack of red blood cell number or function, being an acute condition following radiation exposure. The aim of this project is to use erythroid cell culture to investigate mechanisms for cell survival and proliferation of human erythroblasts. Further, we will determine if overexpression of these mechanisms are sufficient to protect erythroblasts from UV-induced apoptosis.Â