Joe Wiseman Howland

Joe Wiseman Howland, M.D., Ph.D. (21 December 1908 – 12 October 1978) a pioneer researcher in radiation toxicity, health and safety. Howland served as a Major in the U.S. Army as Chief, Research Branch, Medical Division on the Manhattan Project. He worked in the Medical Division of the Atomic Energy Project at the University of Rochester. Dr. Howland was a consultant on radiation exposure, occupational safety and civil defense with various state and federal agencies.

Life and Times
Joe Wiseman Howland was born in Plain City, Ohio in 1908. In 1928 he received his B.S. degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In 1929 he received his M.Sc. in zoology from Ohio State University, and in 1931 his Ph.D. in zoology. From 1931-1932 he was Instructor in Biology at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, and returned to Ohio State in 1932-1933 as Honorary Fellow.

University of Rochester
From 1933-1934 Howland attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry as a medical student. From 1935-1936 he was a Student Fellow in Pathology and received his medical degree in 1938 at the age of 30. Howland stayed at the University of Rochester until his retirement in 1965. From 1938-1939 he served his internship at Strong Memorial Hospital. Howland was an Assistant in Medicine and Assistant Resident Physician in 1939. In 1940 he received the Edith H. Gleason Fellow in Medicine. In 1941 he was appointed Instructor in Medicine at the Medical School and Resident Physician in Charge of the Medical Outpatient Department.

University of Rochester Isotope Distribution Center
Under the direction of Howland, the University of Rochester was the first university to be licensed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to use radioisotopes in clinical procedures at hospitals. The University of Rochester Isotope Distribution Center organized and conducted radioisotope use programs in teaching, diagnostic and therapy applications at hospitals across central New York and western New York.

Clinical Isotope Program

 * Arnot Ogden Hospital, Elmira, NY, 1954.
 * Deaconess Hospital, Buffalo, NY, 1954 - 1957.
 * Genesee Hospital, Rochester, NY, 1954 - 1962.
 * Genesee Memorial Hospital Association, Batavia, NY, 1954 - 1957.
 * Geneva General Hospital, Geneva, NY, 1956.
 * Memorial Center, Buffalo, NY, 1958 - 1962.
 * Millard Fillmore Hospital, Buffalo, NY, 1954 - 1961.
 * Mount St. Mary's Hospital, Niagara Falls, NY, 1955 - 1962.
 * Newark Medical Center, Newark, NY, 1956 - 1957.
 * St. Luke's Memorial Hospital Center, Utica, NY, 1954 - 1958.
 * St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, NY, 1954 - 1959.
 * Slocum-Dickson Medical Group, Utica, NY, 1954 - 1962.
 * Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, NY, 1955 - 1958.

Manhattan Project
From 1944-1947 Howland served in the Armed Forces. In 1944 he joined the Manhattan Project of the Corps of Engineers, which had started to develop a fission bomb. He served as medical officer in charge of special problems. This opportunity allowed him to become one of the early authorities on the medical effects of radiation exposure. Howland designed toxicity experiments and established occupational standards and emergency procedures. In 1945 he was assigned to Oak Ridge, Tennessee as Assistant Chief of Medical Research for the Manhattan Project. He organized the information from the Manhattan Project's laboratories and work sites. Howland organized the parties that went to Japan to analyze the effects of radiation poisoning, and served as chief internist-pathologist to the Nagasaki group. This was the first American group to investigate the effects of radiation on the casualties at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The group was replaced by the U.S. Army team led by Stafford Warren which later became the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission. In 1946 Howland was appointed Chief of Medical Research for the Manhattan District during the transition into the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. In 1947 he was discharged with the rank of major, and remained a consultant to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Atomic Energy Project
Howland returned to Rochester. He was: "convinced that there was a future in atomic medicine." He advanced to Professor of Radiation Biology and Chief of the Medical Division of the Atomic Energy Project at the Medical School. From 1947-1965 Howland was Chief, Atomic Energy Project Medical Division, and supervised the health & safety activities. He directed and conducted research into the pathologic physiology of exposure to ionizing radiation, dosimetry of radiation exposure, effects of microwave irradiation, standards for radiation protection and the medical aspects of civil defense.

The Lockport Incident
On 8 March 1960 in Lockport, New York an accidental X-ray exposure was received by nine civilian radar technicians that worked at the Lockport Air Force Station, a U.S. Air Force radar station that was part of the SAGE network. The recently installed Klystron tube failed to operate properly when voltage was applied. The technicians were exposed to X-rays while troubleshooting the problem. (NOTE: The Klystron tube serves as a voltage amplifier for the radar transmitter.) The technicians made an error in judgment and thought that the Klystron tube would not produce X-rays when the machine was not producing a radiofrequency signal. The men were exposed for a two-hour period with the Klystron tube at 60 percent of full voltage with 150 KeV X-rays being produced at 90 mA current.

Consultant
Howland worked as a consultant to the Surgeon General's Office, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, NASA, the New York State Department of Health, and the New York State Office of Atomic and Space Development.

Medical Doctor and Author
Howland was a prolific writer for medical and scientific journals. He also maintained a private medical practice. He was married and the father of four sons. In 1973 Howland moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and was Director of the North Carolina Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center at Butner, North Carolina. Joe Wiseman Howland died at Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1978.

Awards and honors

 * Honorary Fellow, Ohio State University
 * Edith H. Gleason Fellow in Medicine, University of Rochester

Professional Associations

 * American Association for the Advancement of Science
 * American Physiological Society
 * American Standards Association
 * Medical Society of the State of New York
 * National Academy of Science
 * New York State Society of Medical Research
 * Radiation Research Society
 * Sigma Xi
 * Society of Nuclear Medicine

Thesis

 * Plasma Protein Regeneration as Influenced Infection, Diet and Digestive Disturbances.

Publications

 * Studies on the Kentucky Black Bass: (Micropterus pseudaplites Hubbs).
 * The spotted or Kentucky black bass in Ohio.
 * The effects of irradiation from the atomic bomb on the Japanese.
 * The effects of the atomic bomb irradiation on the Japanese.
 * The effects of the atomic bomb irradiation on the Japanese.
 * Studies on human exposures to uranium compounds. Pharmacology and toxicology of uranium.
 * Studies on factors affecting the radiation syndrome.
 * The effect of aureomycin and antibiotics on whole body irradiation.
 * Biological effects of ionizing radiation.
 * Radioactivity Injury and Recovery from Ionizing Radiation Exposure.
 * The Lockport incident: Accidental partial body exposure of humans to large doses of x-irradiation.
 * Influence of Continuing Clinical Observations on Dose Estimates One Year After a Radiation Accident.
 * SEQUENTIAL MANIFESTATIONS OF ACUTE RADIATION INJURY VS.“ACUTE RADIATION SYNDROME” STEREOTYPE.
 * 200 years of drinking in the United States: Evolution of the disease concept.