Claudius Regaud (born 30 January 1870 in

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France; died 29 December 1940 in Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or, France) was a French 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. Radi ...

at the Curie Institute.

Scientific work

In 1906, Regaud discovered that one of the effects of

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 ...

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

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 relat ...

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