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Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology
The UCLA Radiation Biology Program has a long and distinguished history, being almost as old as the UCLA Medical Center. The current Experimental Division was, however, founded in 1980, 5 years after the development of the Department of Radiation Oncology, with Dr. Withers as the Director, a role Dr. McBride assumed in 1993. Situated primarily in the Roy E. Coats Labs in the basement of the David Geffen School for Medicine and the Factor Building, the Division has almost 6,000 square feet of well-equipped lab and office space and a defined-flora Radiation Biology specific Mouse Colony of 3,800 square feet.Radiation Biology
Research Goal
The goal of the UCLA Radiation Biology Group is to develop novel approaches to modification of the response of tumors and normal tissues to clinically relevant doses of radiation. One concept that was developed within the Division is that radiation imposes molecular "signatures" on cells and tissues that are a response to a "sense of danger." Such responses, in concert with existing molecular pathways promote intracellular and intercellular communication leading to the multiple consequences of radiation exposure. These pathways define intrinsic cellular radiosensitivity and can be modulated rationally to improve the therapeutic benefit to be derived from clinical radiation therapy.
