More federally-funded research is needed on the effects of low-dose medical radiation so the country can better approach patient care and handle a radiation emergency, a Harvard radiology professor urged lawmakers.

Dr. James Brink, who is also the radiologist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital and chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Board of Chancellors, spoke before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Energy earlier this month, as it discussed U.S. Department of Energy funding of basic research on low-dose radiation.

Brink noted that the National Academies Board on Radiation Effects Research (BEIR), which examines the effects of human exposure to low-dose, low-linear energy transfer ionizing radiation, hasn’t released a report since 2006.

Brink would like BEIR to critically assess the more recent research that has gone on since the board’s last report more than a decade ago.

In an interview with HCB News, Brink noted that research into low-dose radiation exposure has slowed since funding decreased roughly five years ago, and that fewer young scientists are moving into this kind of research due to the lack of funding.

While radiologists and imaging facilities have made efforts to keep radiation dose as low as reasonably achievable, a concept known as ALARA, policies need to be refined using more recent data, Brink said.

Aside from looking into patient safety issues, such research is important in planning responses to terrorism and incidents at nuclear power plants.

“The nation would be poorly prepared to deal with a radiation emergency,” Brink told HCB News.

During the last congressional session, U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) introduced the Low-Dose Radiation Research Act of 2015, which would have required the director of the Department of Energy Office of Science to carry out research on low-dose radiation and explore the development of a long-term strategy for such research. The bill passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate.

Brink said that despite the current political climate, lawmakers would recognize the importance of the research.

“I’m hopeful that the concerns that we’re articulating about low-dose radiation are understood and appreciated on both sides of the aisle,” Brink said. “This really isn’t a political issue. It’s an issue of patient safety and health of the population.”

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