Selected Presentations
2026 Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting
College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences – Akers, J.
This presentation provided an overview of Washington State University’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS), including its degree programs, strong academic outcomes, growing enrollment, and active areas of research. The breadth of research areas spans radiochemistry, drug discovery, molecular pharmacology, and rural health. A major focus was the Rural Health Initiative, which addresses pharmacy deserts by recruiting students, expanding rural clinical training, and embedding faculty in underserved communities.
Local Impact, Statewide Purpose – McAteer, K.
This presentation highlighted Washington State University Tri Cities’ role as a land grant campus serving the educational, research, and workforce needs of southeast Washington. It emphasized the campus’s strong local connection and its broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs, with particular strengths in STEM fields. A major focus was the development of nuclear science education, including new curricula, certificates, minors, research opportunities, and partnerships to support regional workforce demand.
WSU’s Leadership Activities in the Advanced Energy Area – Schulz, N.
The presentation discussed nuclear and STEM programs associated with the Institute for Northwest Energy Futures (INEF) and WSU’s Nuclear Science Center. INEF uses a systems based approach to develop cutting-edge energy technologies across multiple disciplines, including the food energy water nexus, biofuels such as sustainable aviation fuels, energy generation, and power grids. Specific examples of WSU research across the energy ecosystem were highlighted, with emphasis on the OneNuclear initiative and WSU’s Nuclear Science Center.
Financial and Administrative Developments – Bedell, M.
This presentation outlines administrative and financial aspects of the Registries, focusing on personnel, budgeting, and future funding. A breakdown of how funds were spent during FY2026 was provided, along with an overview of the budget for FY2027. Personnel support and proposed salary increases were also discussed.
2025 SAC Recommendations & 2026 Overview – Tolmachev, S.
This presentation outlined the SAC’s recommendations from the April 2025 meeting, and described the USTUR’s progress toward implementing those recommendations. This was followed by an overview of operational and research achievements during FY2026. Activities related to strategic outreach, personnel development, research advancement, and laboratory operations were discussed. A revised mission statement was proposed, and the USTUR’s role as a center of excellence was apparent through the relevance of its current research, the breadth of its collaborative network, and its strong productivity in terms of scientific publications and presentations.
Registrant Statistics and Communication – McComish, S.
This presentation summarized Registrant statistics and communication activities at the USTUR. One partial-body donor passed away since the last SAC meeting, bringing the total number of donations to 380. Typically, donors are male former nuclear workers from the DOE complex. The age at death has generally increased from about 55 years old to 90+ years over the lifetime of the program, with an average age of 71 years. The presentation also reviewed Institutional Review Board approval status and discussed recent inquiries from potential new registrants, non registrants, and next of kin.
The United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries Health Physics Database – Avtandilashvili, M.
This presentation described the development and structure of the recently completed USTUR Health Physics Database, and its role in supporting radiation dose assessment and research. The Health Physics Database holds over 200,000 individual digital entries that were derived from tens of thousands of paper records. It serves as a critical tool for accessing data, and is a valuable resource for radiation research.
Radiochemistry Laboratory Operations – Tabatadze, G.
This presentation summarized radiochemistry laboratory operations supporting USTUR research, including tissue analyses from plutonium workers. Significant effort was dedicated to tissue sample processing, case status advancement, and reducing analytical backlogs. It also discussed laboratory facility maintenance and implementation of the Python based URpy system, which standardizes data input, improves traceability, and automates quality control and uncertainty propagation.
Uncertainty in Plutonium Dose Modeling: Lessons from USTUR Autopsy Data – Avtandilashvili, M.
This presentation explored uncertainties in radiation dose estimates by comparing measured post-mortem organ contents to predictions generated using generic intake scenarios typical of epidemiological studies. Thirty-five donors from Hanford, Los Alamos, or Rocky Flats were selected, and Bayesian statistical methods were used to vary dissolution rates associated with absorption of plutonium from the lungs and to predict the organ activity at the time of death. The modeled posterior distribution failed to include the true organ activity 74 % of the time for the liver and 89% of the time for the skeleton. Methods to improve the model fits were discussed.
Quantification of Outcome Misclassification – Liu, X.
This presentation introduces a three-phase study examining outcome misclassification in epidemiologic research, which identifies outcome misclassification among USTUR registrants, determines the impact of this misclassification, and explores methods for correcting it. Phase 2 quantifies how misclassification affects study conclusions by simulating over and under misclassification and measuring changes in odds ratios and statistical significance. The influence of sample size, number of simulations, baseline disease rate, and significance threshold was explored.
Correcting Outcome Misclassification: a Simulation Study – McComish, S.
The presentation describes a simulation study evaluating a method for correcting outcome misclassification in epidemiological research, adapted from Rogan and Gladen (1978). The study uses a preset underling odds ratio to generate 10,000 population, misclassified, and corrected datasets. It then examines how misclassification and correction affect the significance of simulated dose–response associations. Results show that while the correction method successfully recovers the underlying odds association, the corrected distributions become much wider, leading to inflated false positive and false-negative rates.
Radiological and Nuclear Security Leadership Academy (RNSLA) – Hrycauk Nassif, M.
This presentation discussed the power of partnerships in the context of the Radiological and Nuclear Security Leadership Academy (RNSLA). The RNSLA will provide a three-tiered pathway to readiness by establishing: 1) a noncredit online certificate in radiological security and protection, 2) a leadership summit that builds leadership and decision-making skills, and 3) a 12-month applied USTUR radiochemistry training program. The training program is designed to provide entry-level, hands-on experience to a graduate in health physics, chemistry, or nuclear engineering.
Operations and Research in FY2027 – Tolmachev, S.
This presentation outlined USTUR’s operations and research plans for FY2027, reaffirming its mission to serve as a center of excellence in human-based actinide biokinetics and internal dosimetry. Planned activities include hiring a junior laboratory technician, improvements to sample analysis throughput, continued publication and presentation of USTUR research, and maintaining a strong collaborative network.