Sixteenth Annual Warren K. Sinclair Keynote Address: Frontiers in Medical Radiation Science

On the occasion of the 90 anniversary of National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) and its 55 anniversary since being Congressionally Chartered, the theme of "Providing Best Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions about Radiation" is most appropriate. The question proposed here is, "What are the new frontiers for the NCRP with its breadth of talent and expertise in the rapidly evolving era of precision medicine?" Three closely related themes are presented for new applications of radiation science for research and career opportunities: (1) introduction of the new concept of defining radiation dose in biological perturbations in addition to physical dose, particularly for cancer treatment; (2) assessment of early biomarkers of radiation injury for mass casualty exposure (biodosimetry) to guide triage and for clinical application to guide radiation therapy; and (3) proposal to expand opportunities for radiation professionals, including consideration of a new training program within NCRP's "Where are the radiation professionals?" initiative that trains radiation oncologists as molecular radiation epidemiologists.