Vision and goals, Department of Radiation Biology:

Vision: 
Our vision is to develop a radiobiological understanding of response to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation on the molecular, cellular and physiological level, and to utilize this knowledge in designing new strategies for the treatment of cancer. Our research strategy involves basic radiobiological research, translational and clinical studies.

Goals:

  • to understand the molecular and physiological mechanisms behind tumour response to radiation, and to develop predictive methods and treatment strategies
  • to understand the molecular mechanisms behind radiation induced malignancies, with special emphasis on genomic instability, and to unveil the relation between tissue architecture and normal tissue response following radiation therapy
  • to develop treatment strategies utilizing non-ionizing radiation combined with photosensitizing agents, either to induce tumour cell kill directly or via internalization of therapeutic or sensitizing agents.

The Department has about 40 people altogether. 
The permanent staff consists of 6 senior scientists and 8 technicians, while the rest are funded by external sources, primarily The Norwegian Cancer Society and The Norwegian Research Council.

The department is active in the regional research network in radiation oncology NIRO