Agenda and Activities

7:15 a.m. - Registration

8:00 a.m. - Welcome and Overview of the Symposium

• Meghan Millwood, MBA, President and CEO, ORAU
• Carol J. Iddins, MD, FAADM, Director, Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS)

8:30 a.m. - Keynote Address 

• Honorable Brandon Williams, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the Department of Energy, Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Former U.S. Congressman, Navy veteran

9:00 a.m. - Lessons Learned in the IAEA Incident and Emergency Center, International Exercises and Real-World Events

• Monica Dobbertin, MS, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

9:20 a.m. - The Role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Response to Ukraine

• Zhanat Kenbayeva, MD, PhD, Secretariat, Radiation Emergency Medical Preparedness and Assistance Network (REMPAN); Chemicals, Radiation and Health Unit/Department of Environment, Climate Change and One Health/Division of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care; World Health Organization
• Kamal Akbarov, PhD, World Health Organization, Ukraine Country Office

9:40 a.m. - Break

Session 1 - Risks: Past/Present/Emerging

10:10 - 11:30 a.m. – Session Chair: Andrea DiCarlo-Cohen, PhD
1:00 - 4:30 p.m. – Session Chairs: Rebecca Abergel, PhD and Emily Kiernan, DO

10:10 a.m. - Eighty-one Years of Lessons Learned from Hiroshima/Nagasaki 

• Preetha Rajaraman, PhD, Vice Chair and Executive Director at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), Expert Member International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP)

10:30 a.m. - Echoes from Chornobyl: Are We Better Prepared Today?

• Alla Shapiro MD, PhD, Former Medical Officer, Office of Counterterrorism and Emergency Coordination, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

10:50 a.m. - USTUR at 60: Learning from Plutonium and Uranium Workers

• Sergey Tolmachev, PhD, Research Professor and Director of the US Transuranium and Uranium Registries, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University

11:10 a.m. - Disaster Medicine in the Context of Changing Global Environment

• Gregory Ciottone, MD, FACEP, FIBODM, FFSEM, Director, Division of Disaster Medicine​, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians; Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Director of Medical Preparedness, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University

11:30 - Lunch on your own

1:00 p.m. - Million-Person Study: What Have We Learned About Chronic, Low Dose Exposure from Occupational Cohorts?

• Ashley Golden, PhD, Senior Director, ORISE Health Studies, ORAU

1:20 p.m. - Fifteen Years of Radiation Disaster Medicine: Lessons Learned from Fukushima

• Nobuyuki Hirohashi, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Disaster Medicine, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Director, Radiation Disaster Medicine Support Center, Hiroshima University

1:40 p.m. - The Safety Regulation Service of Nuclear Facilities on Radiation Emergency Medical Preparedness and Response in South Korea

• Seongjae Jang, PhD, Team Leader/Principal Investigator Radiation Emergency Medicine Regulation Team, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS)

2:00 p.m. - Defenseless by Design: How the Repeal of the Federal Civil Defense Act Compromised National Security

• Nicholas Studer, MD, MPH, NRP, REAC/TS Staff Physician, ORAU

2:20 p.m. - From Hybrid Threat to Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO): How Evolving Warfare Is Reshaping Radiological/Nuclear Preparedness and Medical Response in Ukraine

• John Quinn V, MD, MPH, PhD, CIME, EMT-P, Emergency and Disaster Medicine, StratMed; Global Health Engagement Advisor on Readiness, Charles University

2:40 p.m. - Break

3:10 p.m. - Conflict Medicine: Expect the Unexpected

• Katrine Finsnes, MD, Anesthesiologist, Medical Advisor, Weapon Contamination Unit, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

3:30 p.m. - A New Strategy for Pre-Hospital Intervention for Mass Casualty Radiation Injury

• Mark Ervin, MD, Associate Director, REAC/TS, ORAU

3:50 p.m. - Modeling and Guidance for Nuclear Detonation Response

• Brooke Buddemeier, CHP, Global Security Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

4:10 p.m. - Current Advances with the Radium Dial Painter Cohort

• Ronald Goans, MD, PhD, MPH, Senior Scientific and Medical Advisor, REAC/TS, MJW Corporation

4:30 p.m. - Panel Discussion

5:00 p.m. - Session Adjourned

6:00 p.m. - Depart Doubletree Hotel Oak Ridge for Joint Icebreaker with CBRN Convergence at Five Thirty Lounge

8:30 p.m. - Return to Doubletree Hotel Oak Ridge

7:30 a.m. - Registration

Session 2 - Building Strength Through Partnerships

Chairs: William Blakely, PhD and Radia Tamarat, PhD

8:00 a.m. - Beyond Radiation: Building a National Partnership Between Medical Toxicology, Poison Centers, Emergency Preparedness, and REAC/TS

• Ziad Kazzi, MD, FAACT, FACMT, FACEP, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

8:20 a.m. - The Phoenix Program: Developing Future SMEs through Education

• Noboyuki Hirohashi, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Disaster Medicine, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Director, Radiation Disaster Medicine Support Center, Hiroshima University

8:40 a.m. - NATO Center of Excellence for Military Medicine

• OF-4 (NLD) Yntze Scheper MBA, BEc., Staff Officer for Medical Evaluation, NATO Military Medicine Centre of Excellence

9:00 a.m. - The Birth, Growth, And Future of Korea’s Radiation Emergency Medical Response System in Collaboration with the International Community

• Minsu Cho, MD, PhD, Director General, National Radiation Emergency Medical Center, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences

9:20 a.m. - Case Files of Radiation Exposures Managed by REAC/TS and Poison Centers

• Emily Kiernan, DO, FAACT, FACMT, FACEP, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, REAC/TS Staff Physician, ORAU

9:40 a.m. - Panel Discussion

10:10 a.m. - Break

Session 3 - Innovations in Biodosimetry and Medical Management

10:40 a.m. - 12 p.m. – Chairs: Minsu Cho, MD, PhD and Nobuyuki Hirohashi, MD, PhD
1:30 - 4:30 p.m. – Chairs: Ziad Kazzi, MD and Ashley Golden, PhD

10:40 a.m. - Orally Available Preparations of DTPA: Implications for Mass Casualty/Mass Exposure Care

• Gregory Ciottone, MD, FACEP, FIBODM, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School

11:00 a.m. - From Laboratory Promise to National Preparedness: A Retrospective on HOPO Development as a Novel, Commercially Viable Medical Countermeasure Against Nuclear Threat

• Rebecca Abergel, PhD, Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Chemistry, Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; Director, Glenn T. Seaborg Center; Senior Faculty Scientist, Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

11:20 a.m. - Biodosimetry and Cases of Accidental and Mass Casualty Radiation Exposure Scenarios

• Stefan Eder, PD Dr. Med, Director, Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology

11:40 a.m. - Radiation Risk at Very Low Doses: What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know?

• David Brenner, PhD, DSC, Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

12:00 - Lunch on your own

1:30 p.m. - Extracellular Vesicles as Biomarkers for Radiation Exposure

• Radia Tamarat, PhD, Senior Expert and Head of Scientific Projects, French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (ISRN) and Collaborates with French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR)

1:50 p.m. - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Efforts to Ensure Medical Preparedness for a Nuclear Emergency: Looking Back, Looking Forward

• Andrea DiCarlo-Cohen, PhD, Director, Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH)

2:10 p.m. - Knoxville Proton Therapy in Tennessee

• Chester Ramsey, PhD, DABR, DABMP, FAAPM, Chief Medical Physicist, Covenant Health, Program Director, Covenant Health Physics Residency Program; Adjunct Faculty, Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee  

2:30 p.m. - The Use of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) To Manage Unplanned Exposures to Ionizing Radiation

• Harold Swartz, MD, PhD, MSPH, Director, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Centers, Dartmouth, University of Illinois, and Medical College of Wisconsin

2:50 p.m. - Understanding FLASH Radiation: Biological Basis and Therapeutic Potential

• Adayabalam Balajee, PhD, Director, Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory, REAC/TS, ORAU  

3:10 p.m. - Break

3:40 p.m. - All-Azimuth Overview of Burn Community Responsibilities in the Aftermath of a Nuc/Rad Disaster

• James Jeng, MD, Professor; Division of Trauma Care, Acute Care, Burn Surgery; Department of Surgery; University of California Irvine School of Medicine

4:00 p.m. - Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory Network – Mixed-Field Neutron and Gamma Rays

• William Blakely, PhD, Senior Scientist – Radiation Biodosimetry, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

4:20 p.m. - The Future of Radiation Emergency Medicine: AI, Biodosimetry, and Medical Countermeasures

• Alegria Montoro Pastor, PhD, Head of the Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe

4:40 p.m. - Panel Discussion

5:00 p.m. - Session Adjourned

6:30 p.m. - BBQ Dinner at Calhoun’s Oak Ridge

• Ray Smith, Author, Historian, Oak Ridge City Historian, Commissioner for East Tennessee on the Tennessee Historical Commission

7:30 a.m. - Registration

Session 4 - Technology Innovations: The Nuclear Renaissance

Chairs: Brooke Buddemeier, CHP and Adayabalam Balajee, PhD

8:00 a.m. - Keynote Address

• Brittany Lockhart, MS, Acting Deputy Associate Administrator (SES), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation (CTCP)

8:20 a.m. - An Iterative Approach to Advanced Nuclear Construction

• Michael Ellett, Principal Engineer, Licensing, Kairos Power

8:40 a.m. - Radiant R-50 Factory in Oak Ridge

• Matt Wilson, MS, Vice President, Capital Projects, Radiant Nuclear

9:00 a.m. - Laser Enrichment – The Story of LIS Technologies (LIST) Stable and Medical Isotopes, Using Laser Enrichment

• Kirk Rector, PhD, Director of Medical and Stable Isotopes, LIS Technologies

9:20 a.m. - Nuclear Propulsion and Lunar Power

• Vincent Michaud, MD, MPH, FAsMA, Deputy Chief Health and Medical Officer, NASA

9:40 a.m. - Operational Radiation Protection for Small Modular Reactors

• Ryan Lee, HP, Operational Health Physicist, Ontario Power Generation-SMR-X

10:00 a.m. - Emergency Preparedness for Advanced Reactors: How Risk-informed Regulation Prepares Us for the Future

• Todd Smith, PhD, Senior Level Advisor for Emergency Preparedness and Incident Response, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

10:20 a.m. - Panel Discussion

10:50 a.m. - Closing Remarks for the REAC/TS Symposium

11:00 a.m. - Symposium Concludes

Combined Special Joint Session on Radiation and Disaster Medicine

12:30 p.m. - Buses depart Doubletree Oak Ridge to Knoxville Convention Center*

• CBRNe World, REAC/TS, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians

*Note - If you are traveling to the Knoxville Convention Center, please be aware that you will need to pay to park in one of the downtown Knoxville parking garages, or use valet. Parking details are available on the Convention Center website.

2:00 p.m. - The Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) Assets

• Diana Kauveiyakul, BS, REAC/TS Health Physicist, ORAU

2:20 p.m. - Medical Needs in the Aftermath of a Nuclear Detonation

• Brooke Buddemeier, CHP, Global Security Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

2:40 p.m. - AI-Driven Multiparametric Biodosimetry Approach for Rapid Triage and Medical Management

• Adayabalam Balajee, PhD, Director, Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory, REAC/TS, ORAU  

3:00 p.m. - Radiation/Nuclear Medical Countermeasures

• Emily Kiernan, DO, FAACT, FACMT, FACEP, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, REAC/TS Staff Physician, ORAU

3:20 p.m. - Panel Discussion

3:35 p.m. - Break/Exhibitors/Posters

3:50 p.m. - Toxidrome Recognition and Response to Chemical Weapons Attacks

• Gregory Ciottone, MD, FACEP, FIBODM, Director, Division of Disaster Medicine, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine | Harvard Medical School, Harvard Faculty Medical Physicians

4:10 p.m. - Biothreats Primer 2026

• Shane Kappler, MD, MS MD, MBA, FACEP, FCCP, Faculty of CBRN Education, Division of Disaster Medicine,, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Georgetown School of Medicine

4:30 p.m. - Hospital CBRN Readiness with Pediatric and Hybrid Decontamination Updates

• David DiGregorio, MSEM, Director of Hazardous Materials Response, Division of Disaster Medicine, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC, Harvard Faculty Medical Physicians

4:50 p.m. - Panel Discussion

6:00 p.m. - Bus transport to the Doubletree Hotel Oak Ridge, or explore Downtown Knoxville on your own