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Douglas Lea

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Douglas Lea
Born(1910-02-08)8 February 1910
Liverpool, England
Died16 June 1947(1947-06-16) (aged 37)
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
Scientific career
InstitutionsStrangeways Laboratory
Royal College of Surgeons
Doctoral advisorJames Chadwick
Other academic advisorsErnest Rutherford

Douglas Edward Lea (February 2, 1910 – June 16, 1947) was an experimental physicist working primarily in the field of radiobiology. He started working at the Cavendish Laboratory at University of Cambridge from 1931 to 1935, and in time moved from nuclear physics to focus on biology.[1] After obtaining his PhD from Cambridge, he worked at Strangeways Laboratory from 1935 to 1946, then at the Royal College of Surgeons between 1942 and 1946.[2][3]

Lea published his influential book, The Actions of Radiation of Living Cells, in 1946, the year before he died in an accident.[4][5][3] Lea was a major contributor to the target theory of cell death caused by ionising radiation.[6][7]

For a period in 1943 he was appointed part-time Honorary Advisory Physicist to Addenbrooke's Hospital and was thus the first hospital physicist at Addenbrooke's. In 1946, not long before his death, was appointed Reader in Radiobiology in the University Department of Radiotherapeutics

A memorial lecture in his name has been given biennially since 1948.[8] He was a close friend of fellow radiobiology pioneer, Louis Harold Gray.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Hall, E J (1 May 1976). "Radiation and the single cell: the physicist's contribution to radiobiology". Physics in Medicine and Biology. 21 (3): 347–359. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/21/3/001. PMID 819945. S2CID 30411960.
  2. ^ Steel, G Gordon (1 February 1996). "From targets to genes: a brief history of radiosensitivity". Physics in Medicine and Biology. 41 (2): 205–222. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/41/2/001. PMID 8746105.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, J. S. (July 1947). "Dr. D. E. Lea". Nature. 160 (4055): 81–82. doi:10.1038/160081a0.
  4. ^ Gray, L H (August 1947). "Douglas E. Lea, M.A., Ph.D.". The British Journal of Radiology. 20 (236): 335–337. doi:10.1259/0007-1285-20-236-335-b.
  5. ^ "1940s radiobiology". British Institute of Radiology. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  6. ^ Chapman, J.D. (April 2007). "Target Theory Revisited: Why Physicists are Essential for Radiobiology Research". Clinical Oncology. 19 (3): S12. doi:10.1016/j.clon.2007.01.311.
  7. ^ Bodgi, Larry; Canet, Aurélien; Pujo-Menjouet, Laurent; Lesne, Annick; Victor, Jean-Marc; Foray, Nicolas (April 2016). "Mathematical models of radiation action on living cells: From the target theory to the modern approaches. A historical and critical review" (PDF). Journal of Theoretical Biology. 394: 93–101. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.01.018. PMID 26807808.
  8. ^ "Douglas Lea Lecture". IPEM. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  9. ^ Yamasaki, Michio (16 January 2010). "The Life of Louis Harold Gray". Journal of Radiation Research. 51 (Suppl). Translated by Nobuyuki Hamada and Mio Morimoto. ISSN 0449-3060.
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