Dr Little is currently the James Stevens Simmons Professor of Radiobiology and former Chair of the Department of Cancer Cell Biology at the Harvard School of Public Health. A native of Boston, he received his BA in physics from Harvard University and an MD from Boston University, followed by an internship in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and a residency in radiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He joined the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1965, where he has since been the Director of the Research and Training Program in Radiation Biology. He served for 16 years as the Director of the Kresge Center for Environmental Health at Harvard, and is currently Director of the Center for Radiation Sciences and Environmental Health.
Dr Little is Past President of the Radiation Research Society. He has served on many advisory committees, councils, and editorial boards, and has Chaired the Board of Radiation Effects Research of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, the Science Council of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, and the Board of Scientific Councilors of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Dr Little's research includes the study of the mechanisms involved in the response of mammalian cells to ionizing radiation, with particular reference to its carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. He is known for his earlier studies on the repair of radiation damage in human normal and tumor cells, and for his characterization of mechanisms of malignant transformation and mutagenesis. His current research interests include the induction of genomic instability by radiation and the bystander effect. Dr Little is the recipient of the Failla Award of the Radiation Research Society, and the Henry S Kaplan Distinguished Scientist Award from the International Association for Radiation Research. He held an Outstanding Investigator Grant from the National Cancer Institute for 13 years. He has authored or coauthored over 480 scientific papers.
Dr Morgan is a professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He received his PhD and DSc degrees from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. After a postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Sheldon Wolff at the Laboratory of Radiobiology and Environmental Health at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Dr Morgan joined the faculty at UCSF. In 1995, he relocated part of his laboratory to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and in 1999 he left California to become Director of the Radiation Oncology Research Laboratory at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Dr Morgan is a member of the Board on Radiation Effects Research operated by the National Academy of Science, a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, and a consultant to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. His research interests include the delayed effects associated with exposure to ionizing radiation and genetic susceptibility to radiation exposure.