City of Hope awarded multimillion dollar contract for cellular telephone research.

DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 1995--The City of Hope National Medical Center has been awarded more than $1.5 million from the Wireless Technology Research (WTR) Limited Liability Co. to conduct essential initial research that will quantify human exposure to cellular telephone radiofrequency waves.

The three-year study began last month.

Led by principal investigator C.K. Chou, Ph.D., director of Radiation Research at City of Hope, the research will serve as the foundation for future biological studies that should provide insight as to whether there are health risks involved with using a portable cellular phone.

Chou and his research team's primary goal will be to develop radiofrequency exposure systems and to determine how much and at what point cellular telephone energy is absorbed in the human body. Biologists will later use City of Hope's system to study the effects of the exposure on living tissue.

"Because of our experience in the precise measurement of energy absorption in the human body upon exposure to microwave hyperthermia, WTR asked the City of Hope to assist in this research," said Chou. "We will obtain the quantitative data needed for future biological studies."

In addition to developing radiofrequency exposure systems, the study will also focus on energy absorption in a model of human body (with simulated muscles, lungs, heart, bone and brain material) exposed to cellular telephone frequencies.

Energy absorption is calculated using a supercomputer, which was donated to City of Hope by WTR for this and future research. Then, the computer calculations will be verified with measurements taken directly from the model. MRI images of humans using various cellular phones will also be analyzed by the same computer and, again, the energy absorption will be calculated.

WTR chairman Dr. George Carlo said, "Dr. Chou is uniquely qualified to conduct this important work and we are pleased to have him involved."

Chou, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, has been studying the safety aspects of microwave and radiofrequency exposure for 24 years. He has been conducting electromagnetic research at the City of Hope for 10 years. Currently, Chou is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a professional organization.

At IEEE, Chou serves as vice chairman and chairman-elect of the Committee on Man and Radiation, chairman of the Microwave and RF subcommittee, and chairman of the Engineering Evaluation Working Group. Chou also serves as vice chairman of the committee on "Biological Effects and Exposure Criteria for Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field" of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements and is an associate editor of the "Journal of Bioelectromagnetics."

The WTR, formerly the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) on Wireless Technology, was established in 1993 and is based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to conduct and fund research into the potential public health impact of all wireless instruments and the wireless technology delivery infrastructure. WTR's work is conducted under rigorous scientific principles by researchers at independent laboratories around the world.

Founded in 1913, the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute has been recognized as a "Clinical Cancer Research Center" by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1981. A select group of leaders in the fight against cancer, NCI-designated cancer centers pioneer new cancer treatments, are equipped to perform the latest diagnostic procedures, collaborate with other NCI-designated cancer centers, and employ physicians and scientists who are leaders in their fields.

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