The NIH Radiation Safety Committee (RSC) is an important committee that serves the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP). The RSC is made up of 14 members representing each program area in which radioactive materials or radiation-producing machinery is used at NIH. The RSC, in partnership with the Radiation Safety Officer, is responsible for overseeing compliance with the NIH’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license for use of radioactive material in the IRP. The committee is led by Brad Wood (chair), M.D. and Lisa Coronado (deputy chair), M.B.A. The Radiation Safety Officer, Catherine Ribaudo M.S., is also a voting member of the committee.
The committee meets once a month, usually the fourth Thursday of every month. Meetings are in Building 10 and are open to the public (as are the minutes). The business of the RSC is to review and approve laboratory protocols (high quantities or volatile compounds of radioactive material), approve new applications for Authorized User status, and review radiation safety incidents and worker radiation dose summaries. All Radiation Safety policies and new initiatives are endorsed by the RSC. An additional specific function of the RSC is to review and approve all clinical protocols in which the participants will receive a radiation dose for research purposes. That is in contrast to radiation dose which is received for clinical care (i.e., medically indicated radiation) which the RSC does not review or place limits on.
Clinical protocol applications are to be submitted to the Executive Secretary of the RSC, Dr. Sarah Kindrick, who performs a pre-review for completeness. Clinical protocols where radioactive material is administered to the research subjects must be supervised by a “Clinical Authorized User,” a physician with specialty in nuclear medicine. The RSC deliberates on all clinical protocols and will typically vote to fully approve or approve with stipulations. Particular attention is given to protocols involving children, where the permissible amount of research radiation is held to a lower limit than for adults. It should be noted that the applicable Institute Review Board (IRB) must also approve a clinical protocol before the investigator may commence with accruing participants.
For more information about the RSC or radiation-related questions, please contact the Division of Radiation Safety at (301) 496-5774.
