Roger W. Howell

November 2004

howell

OFFICE ADDRESS:

Department of Radiology
Division of Radiation Research
M.S.B. F-453
University of Medicine & Dentistry of NJ
Newark , NJ 07103
973-972-5067

EDUCATION:

University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003
B.S., Physics, Feb 1982.
University of Massachusetts , Amherst , MA 01003
Ph.D., Physics, Sept 1987.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

            Exposure to ionizing radiation is part of our everyday life.  We are all exposed to ionizing radiation that arises from natural background radiation such as cosmic rays, radioactivity in the environment (e.g. radon), and natural radioactivity in our bodies such as radioactive potassium.  In addition, many of us benefit from the numerous medical technologies that use ionizing radiation to diagnose and treat disease.  Many of these medical technologies use radioactive materials as the source of ionizing radiation.  While radioactive materials are used to improve our lives, they also can be used for ill purposes such as nuclear terrorism.  Accordingly, the research in my laboratory focuses on the biological effects of radioactive materials as they relate to both radiation protection and radiation therapy.  Experimental and theoretical aspects are both emphasized because of their strong interdependence when deciphering the biological effects of radioactive materials.

ARTICLES:

  1. D. V. Rao, K. S. R. Sastry, H. E. Grimmond, R. W. Howell , G. F. Govelitz, V. K. Lanka, and V. B. Mylavarapu,  Cytotoxicity of some indium radiopharmaceuticals in mouse testes. J. Nucl. Med. 29, 375-384 (1988). [abstract]
  2. D. V. Rao, V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , G. F. Govelitz, and K. S. R. Sastry,  In-vivo radiotoxicity of DNA-incorporated I-125 compared with that of densely ionising alpha-particles. Lancet II, 650-653 (1989). [abstract]
  3. R. W. Howell , D. V. Rao, and K. S. R. Sastry,  Macroscopic dosimetry for radioimmunotherapy: Nonuniform activity distributions in solid tumors. Med. Phys. 16, 66-74 (1989). [abstract]
  4. H. A. Wright, R. N. Hamm, J. E. Turner, R. W. Howell , D. V. Rao, and K. S. R. Sastry,  Calculations of physical and chemical reactions with DNA in aqueous solution from Auger cascades. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 31, 59-62 (1990).
  5. D. V. Rao, V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , and K. S. R. Sastry,  Biological consequence of nuclear versus cytoplasmic decays of I-125: Cysteamine as a radioprotector against Auger cascades in vivo . Radiat. Res. 124, 188-193 (1990). [abstract]
  6. R. W. Howell , V. R. Narra, D. V. Rao, and K. S. R. Sastry,  Radiobiological effects of intracellular polonium-210 alpha emissions: A comparison with Auger-emitters. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 31, 325-328 (1990).
  7. D. V. Rao, V. R. Narra, G. F. Govelitz, V. K. Lanka, R. W. Howell , and K. S. R. Sastry,  In vivo effects of 5.3 MeV alpha particles from Po-210 in mouse testes: Comparison with internal Auger emitters. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 31, 329-332 (1990).
  8. D. V. Rao, V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , V. K. Lanka, and K. S. R. Sastry,  Induction of spermhead abnormalities by incorporated radionuclides: Dependence on subcellular distribution, type of radiation, dose rate, and presence of radioprotectors. Radiat. Res. 125, 89-97 (1991). [abstract]
  9. R. W. Howell , D. V. Rao, D.-Y. Hou, V. R. Narra, and K. S. R. Sastry,  The question of relative biological effectiveness and quality factor for Auger emitters incorporated into proliferating mammalian cells. Radiat. Res. 128, 282-292 (1991). [abstract]
  10. V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , K. L. Thanki, and D. V. Rao,  Radiotoxicity of 125 I-iododeoxyuridine in preimplantation mouse embryos. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 60, 525-532 (1991). [abstract]
  11. R. W. Howell , V. R. Narra, and D. V. Rao,  Absorbed dose calculations for rapidly growing tumors. J. Nucl. Med. 33, 277-281 (1992). [abstract]
  12. V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , R. S. Harapanhalli, K. S. R. Sastry, and D. V. Rao,  Radiotoxicity of some I-123, I-125, and I-131 labeled compounds in mouse testes:  Implications for radiopharmaceutical design. J. Nucl. Med. 33, 2196-2201 (1992). [abstract]
  13. R. W. Howell ,  Radiation spectra for Auger-electron emitting radionuclides: Report No. 2 of AAPM Nuclear Medicine Task Group No. 6. Med. Phys. 19, 1371-1383 (1992). [abstract]
  14. D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell ,  Time dose fractionation in radioimmunotherapy: Implications for selecting radionuclides. J. Nucl. Med. 34, 1801-1810 (1993). [abstract]
  15. V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , K. S. R. Sastry, and D. V. Rao,  Vitamin C as a radioprotector against 131 I in vivo . J. Nucl. Med. 34, 637-640 (1993). [abstract]
  16. R. S. Harapanhalli, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Testicular and plasma ascorbic acid levels in mice following dietary intake: A high performance liquid chromatographic analysis. J. Chromatogr. Biomed. Appl. 614, 233-243 (1993). [abstract]
  17. R. S. Harapanhalli, V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  [ 35 S]Cysteamine: Facile synthesis, in vivo biokinetics, and subcellular distribution. Nucl. Med. Biol. 20, 117-124 (1993). [abstract]
  18. R. W. Howell , V. R. Narra, K. S. R. Sastry, and D. V. Rao,  On the equivalent dose for Auger electron emitters. Radiat. Res. 134, 71-78 (1993). [abstract]
  19. J. L. Humm, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Dosimetry of Auger electron emitting radionuclides:  Report No. 3 of the AAPM Nuclear Medicine Task Group No. 6. Med. Phys. 21, 1901-1915 (1994). [abstract]
  20. V. R. Narra, R. S. Harapanhalli, R. W. Howell , K. S. R. Sastry, and D. V. Rao,  Vitamins as radioprotectors in vivo .  I. Protection by vitamin C against internal radionuclides in mouse testes:  Implications to the mechanism of the Auger effect. Radiat. Res. 137, 394-399 (1994). [abstract]
  21. R. W. Howell , A. I. Kassis, S. J. Adelstein, D. V. Rao, H. A. Wright, R. N. Hamm, J. E. Turner, and K. S. R. Sastry,  Radiotoxicity of 195m Pt labeled trans -platinum(II) in mammalian cells. Radiat. Res. 140, 55-62 (1994). [abstract]
  22. R. W. Howell , S. M. Goddu, and D. V. Rao,  Application of the linear-quadratic model to radioimmunotherapy: Further support for the advantage of longer-lived radionuclides. J. Nucl. Med. 35, 1861-1869 (1994). [abstract]
  23. V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , K. S. R. Sastry, and D. V. Rao,  Auger electron emitters as tools for elucidating the location of the primary radiosensitive targets. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 52, 229-232 (1994).
  24. V. R. Narra, K. S. R. Sastry, S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , S. E. Strand, and D. V. Rao,  Relative biological effectiveness of 99m Tc radiopharmaceuticals. Med. Phys. 21, 1921-1926 (1994). [abstract]
  25. M. T. Azure, R. D. Archer, K. S. R. Sastry, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell ,  Biologic effect of 212 Pb localized in the nucleus of mammalian cells:  Role of recoil energy in the radiotoxicity of internal alpha emitters. Radiat. Res. 140, 276-283 (1994). [abstract]
  26. S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Cellular dosimetry:  Absorbed fractions for monoenergetic electron and alpha particle sources and S-values for radionuclides uniformly distributed in different cell compartments. J. Nucl. Med. 35, 303-316 (1994). [abstract]
  27. S. M. Goddu, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell ,  Multicellular dosimetry for micrometastases:  Dependence of self-dose versus cross-dose to cell nuclei on type and energy of radiation and subcellular distribution of radionuclides. J. Nucl. Med. 35, 521-530 (1994). [abstract]
  28. M. T. Azure, and R. W. Howell ,  Isolation of polonium-210 from silver. Appl. Radiat. Isotop. 45, 637-638 (1994).
  29. R. W. Howell , M. T. Azure, V. R. Narra, and D. V. Rao,  Relative biological effectiveness of alpha emitters in vivo at low doses. Radiat. Res. 137, 352-360 (1994). [abstract]
  30. R. W. Howell ,  The MIRD schema:  From organ to cellular dimensions. J. Nucl. Med. 35, 531-533 (1994).
  31. R. S. Harapanhalli, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Bis-benzimidazole dyes, HOECHST 33258 and HOECHST 33342:  Radioiodination, facile purification and subcellular distribution. Nucl. Med. Biol. 21, 641-647 (1994). [abstract]
  32. R. S. Harapanhalli, V. R. Narra, V. Yaghmai, M. T. Azure, S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Vitamins as radioprotectors in vivo .  II. Protection by vitamin A and soybean oil against radiation damage caused by internal radionuclides. Radiat. Res. 139, 115-122 (1994). [abstract]
  33. D. V. Rao, B. Shepstone, H. G. Wilkins, and R. W. Howell ,  Testicular kinetics and dosimetry of Tl-201 in humans. J. Nucl. Med. 36, 607-609 (1995). [abstract]
  34. S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  A generalized approach to absorbed dose calculations for dynamic tumor and organ masses. J. Nucl. Med. 36, 1923-1927 (1995). [abstract]
  35. V. R. Narra, R. S. Harapanhalli, S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Radioprotection against biological effects of internal radionuclides in vivo by S-(2-aminoethyl)isothiouronium bromide hydrobromide (AET). J. Nucl. Med. 36, 259-266 (1995). [abstract]
  36. R. S. Harapanhalli, V. Yaghmai, D. Giuliani, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Antioxidant effects of vitamin C in mice following X-irradiation. Research Communications in Molecular Pathology and Pharmacology 94, 271-287 (1996). [abstract]
  37. V. R. Narra, R. W. Howell , S. M. Goddu, and D. V. Rao,  Effects of a 1.5-Tesla magnetic field on spermatogenesis and embryogenesis in mice. Investigative Radiology 31, 586-590 (1996). [abstract]
  38. S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Calculation of equivalent dose for Auger electron emitting radionuclides distributed in human organs. Acta Oncologica 35, 909-916 (1996). [abstract]
  39. S. M. Goddu, V. R. Narra, R. S. Harapanhalli, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Radioprotection by DMSO against the biological effects of incorporated radionuclides in vivo . Acta Oncologica 35, 901-907 (1996). [abstract]
  40. R. S. Harapanhalli, L. W. McLaughlin, R. W. Howell , D. V. Rao, S. J. Adelstein, and A. I. Kassis,  125 I/ 127 I-IodoHoechst 33342: Synthesis, DNA binding, and biodistribution studies. J. Med. Chem. 39, 4804-4809 (1996). [abstract]
  41. R. W. Howell , S. M. Goddu, V. R. Narra, D. R. Fisher, R. E. Schenter, and D. V. Rao,  Radiotoxicity of gadolinium-148 and radium-223 in mouse testes: Relative biological effectiveness of alpha particle emitters in vivo . Radiat. Res. 147, 342-348 (1997). [abstract]
  42. R. W. Howell , S. M. Goddu, and D. V. Rao,  Design and performance characteristics of an experimental Cs-137 irradiator to simulate internal radionuclide dose rate patterns. J. Nucl. Med. 38, 727-731 (1997). [abstract]
  43. R. W. Howell , S. M. Goddu, and D. V. Rao,  Proliferation and the advantage of longer-lived radionuclides in radioimmunotherapy. Med. Phys. 25, 37-42 (1998). [abstract]
  44. R. W. Howell , S. M. Goddu, A. Bishayee, and D. V. Rao,  Radioprotection against lethal damage caused by chronic irradiation with radionuclides in vitro . Radiat. Res. 150, 391-399 (1998). [abstract]
  45. S. J. Adelstein, R. W. Howell , J. L. Humm, G. M. Makrigiorgos, and B. W. Wessels,  On the conceptual basis for dose quantities in nuclear medicine. ICRU News 1, 4-10 (1998).
  46. S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , D. C. Giuliani, and D. V. Rao,  Biological dosimetry of bone marrow for incorporated 90 Y. J. Nucl. Med. 39, 547-551 (1998). [abstract]
  47. R. W. Howell , B. W. Wessels, and R. Loevinger,  The MIRD Perspective 1999. J. Nucl. Med. 40:1, 3S-10S (1999). [abstract]
  48. A. Bishayee, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell ,  RAPID COMMUNICATION: Evidence for pronounced bystander effects caused by nonuniform distributions of radioactivity using a novel three-dimensional tissue culture model. Radiat. Res . 152 , 88-97 (1999). [abstract]
  49. L. G. Bouchet, W. E. Bolch, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  S values for radionuclides localized within the skeleton. J. Nucl. Med . 41, 189-212 (2000). [abstract]
  50. L. G. Bouchet, W. E. Bolch, S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao,  Considerations in the selection of radiopharmaceuticals for palliation of bone pain from metastatic osseous lesions. J. Nucl. Med. 41, 682-687 (2000). [abstract]
  51. S. M. Goddu, A. Bishayee, L. G. Bouchet, W. E. Bolch, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell ,  Marrow toxicity of 33 P- versus 32 P-orthophosphate:  Implications for therapy of bone pain and bone metastases. J. Nucl. Med. 41, 941-951 (2000). [abstract]
  52. A. Bishayee, D. V. Rao, L. G. Bouchet, W. E. Bolch, and R. W. Howell .  Protection by DMSO against cell death caused by intracellularly localized iodine-125, iodine-131 and polonium-210.  Radiat. Res . 153, 416-427 (2000). [abstract]
  53. A. Bishayee, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell .  Radiation protection by cysteamine against the lethal effects of intracellular localized Auger electron, a -, and b -particle emitting radionuclides.  Acta Oncologica .  39, 713-720 (2000). [abstract]
  54. A. Bishayee, D. V. Rao, S. C. Srivastava, L. G. Bouchet, W. E. Bolch, and R. W. Howell .  Marrow-sparing effects of Sn-117m(4+)DTPA for radionuclide therapy of cancer in bone.  J. Nucl. Med.   41, 2043-2050 (2001). [abstract]
  55. M. Lenarczyk, S. M. Goddu, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell .  Biological dosimetry of bone marrow: Induction of micronuclei in reticulocytes following exposure to P-32 and Y-90.  J. Nucl. Med . 42 , 162-169 (2001). [abstract]
  56. A. Bishayee, H. Z. Hill, D. Stein, D. V. Rao, and R. W. Howell .  Free-radical initiated and gap junction-mediated bystander effect due to nonuniform distribution of incorporated radioactivity in a three-dimensional tissue culture model.  Radiat. Res . 155, 335-344 (2001). [abstract]
  57. M. G. Stabin, R. W. Howell , and N. C. Colas-Linhart. Modeling radiation dose and effects from internal emitters in nuclear medicine: from the whole body to individual cells. Cellular and Molecular Biology 47 (3),:535-544 (2001). [abstract]
  58. A. Bishayee and R. W. Howell .  Bystander effects caused by nonuniform distributions of DNA-incorporated 125 I.  Micron 33 (2), 127-132 (2002).  INVITED PAPER. [abstract]
  59. B. I. Gerashchenko and R. W. Howell , Flow cytometry as a strategy to study radiation-induced bystander effects in co-culture systems. Cytometry 54 , 1-7 (2003). [abstract]
  60. M. L. Thakur, R. Coss, R. W. Howell, D. Vassileva-Belnikolovska, J. Liu, S. P. Rao, G. Spana, P. Wachsberger, and D. L. Leeper. Role of lipid soluble complexes in targeted therapy. J. Nucl. Med . 44 , 1293-1300 (2003). [abstract]
  61. N. F. Marko, P. B. Dieffenbach, G. Yan, S. Ceryak, R. W. Howell, T. A. McCaffrey, and V. W. Hu. Does metabolic radiolabeling stimulate the stress response? Differential cellular responses to internal beta versus external gamma radiation. FASEB J. 17, 1470-1486 (2003). [abstract]
  62. B. I. Gerashchenko and R. W. Howell, Cell proximity is a prerequisite for the proliferative response of bystander cells co-cultured with cells irradiated with gamma-rays. Cytometry 56A, 71-80 (2003). [abstract]
  63. P. V. S. V. Neti and R. W. Howell, When may a nonuniform distribution of 131I be considered uniform? An experimental basis for multicellular dosimetry. J. Nucl. Med. 44, 2019-2026 (2003). [abstract]
  64. E. Dadachova, R. W. Howell, R. A. Bryan, A. Frenkel, J.D. Nosanchuk, and A. Casadevall. Susceptibility of human pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Histoplasma capsulatum to gamma radiation and radioimmunotherapy with alpha- and beta-emitting radioisotopes. J. Nucl. Med . 45, 313-320 (2004). [abstract]
  65. P. V. S. V. Neti and R. W. Howell, Isolating effects of microscopic nonuniform distributions of 131I on labeled and unlabeled cells. J. Nucl. Med. 45, 1050-1058 (2004). [abstract]
  66. B. I. Gerashchenko and R. W. Howell, Proliferative response of bystander cells adjacent to cells with incorporated radioactivity. Cytometry 60A (2):155-64 (2004). [abstract]
  67. P. V. Neti, S. M. de Toledo, V. Perumal, E. I. Azzam, and R. W. Howell. A multi-port low-fluence alpha-particle irradiator: fabrication, testing and benchmark radiobiological studies. Radiat Res 161, 732-738 (2004). [abstract]
  68. B. I. Gerashchenko, E. I. Azzam, and R. W. Howell, Characterization of cell-cycle progression and growth of WB-F344 normal rat liver epithelial cells following gamma-ray exposure . Cytometry 61A, 134-141 (2004). [abstract]
  69. R. W. Howell and P. V. Neti. Modeling multicellular response to nonuniform distributions of radioactivity: Differences in cellular response to self-dose and cross-dose. Radiat. Res. (In press).

BOOKS:

  1. R. W. Howell , V. R. Narra, K. S. R. Sastry, and D. V. Rao, Eds.  Biophysical Aspects of Auger Processes.  American Institute of Physics, Woodbury , NY (1992), 405 pages.  For review see Health Phys. 65: 331 (1993), Med. Phys. 21: 325 (1994).
  2. S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , L. G. Bouchet, W. E. Bolch, and D. V. Rao, MIRD Cellular S values:  Self-absorbed dose per unit cumulated activity for selected radionuclides and monoenergetic electron and alpha particle emitters incorporated into different cell compartments . Society of Nuclear Medicine, Reston , VA (1997), 183 pages. [purchase]

REPORTS:

  1. J. A. Siegel, S. R. Thomas, J. B. Stubbs, M. G. Stabin, M. T. Hays, K. F. Koral, J. S. Roberston, R. W. Howell , B. W. Wessels, D. R. Fisher, D. A. Weber, and A. B. Brill,  MIRD Pamphlet No. 16:  Techniques for quantitative radiopharmaceutical biodistribution data acquisition and analysis for use in human radiation dose estimates. J. Nucl. Med. 40: 2, 37S-61S (1999). [abstract]
  2. W. E. Bolch, L. G. Bouchet, J. S. Robertson, B. W. Wessels, J. A. Siegel, R. W. Howell , A. K. Erdi, B. Aydogan, S. Costes, and E. E. Watson,  MIRD Pamphlet No. 17: The dosimetry of nonuniform activity distributions - radionuclide S values at the voxel level. J. Nucl. Med. 40: 1, 11S-36S (1999). [abstract]
  3. International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements.  Absorbed Dose Specification in Nuclear Medicine.  Report Committee:  SJ Adelstein, Chair, AJ Green, RW Howell , JL Humm, PK Leichner, JA O'Donoghue, SE Strand, BW Wessels.  Journal of the ICRU 2: 1 1-110 (2002). [abstract]

PATENTS:

S. M. Goddu, R. W. Howell , and D. V. Rao.  United States Patent No. US 6,201,852 B1.  March 13, 2001.  Method and means for variably attenuating radiation