Claudius Regaud (born 30 January 1870 in Lyons,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

; died 29 December 1940 in Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or,

) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

doctor and biologist, one of the pioneers in

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Ra ...

at the Curie Institute.

Scientific work

In 1906, Regaud discovered that one of the effects of

X-ray X-rays (or rarely, ''X-radiation'') are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. In many languages, it is referred to as Röntgen radiation, after the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who discovered it in 1895 and named it ' ...

treatment is sterility. He deduced that X-rays could also be used against rapidly growing cells other than gametes and, thus, against

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

ous

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

s. He proceeded to conduct the first experiments in this area. In 1912, at the Curie Institute, he was given responsibility for the Pasteur Laboratory, with the mission to study the biological and medical effects of radioactivity. The Curie laboratory, in contrast, dealt with research in the fields of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

and chemistry. In addition, he started a program to fight

neoplasia A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

and conducted research to determine the optimal duration and dosage for radiation therapy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regaud, Claudius French radiologists Radiation health effects researchers 1870 births 1940 deaths Physicians from Lyon