Evan Barr Douple, PhD

Distinguished for his knowledge and career in radiation biophysics, Evan Barr Douple most recently excelled as the associate chief of research for the Radiation Effects Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan from 2008 to 2013. Prior, he has served the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. as a staff scientist and director of the board on radiation effects research between 1992 and 2007. Outside of his fieldwork, Dr. Douple leveraged his expertise as an educator, beginning as a science teacher in the Lebanon, Pennsylvania School District in 1964. He became a tenured professor of radiobiology at Dartmouth College Medical School in New Hampshire in the 1990s after nearly two decades at the institution.

In addition to his primary work, Dr. Douple was responsible for developing a system for delivering microwave-induced hyperthermia for the treatment of cancer, having also conducted extensive research in the use of platinum chemotherapy with radiation therapy and the delivery of chemotherapy from biodegradable polymers. As a result of his years of study, Dr. Douple has disseminated his findings by authoring more than 100 articles in various peer-reviewed journals. He also edited four books, including “Platinum Coordination Complexes in Cancer Chemotherapy” in 1984, “Thermal Effects on Cells and Tissues” in 1988, “Biology of Thermal Potentiation of Radiotherapy” in 1989 and “Interstitial Hyperthermia” in 1992.

At the start of his professional journey, Dr. Douple earned a Bachelor of Science from Millersville State College in 1964, where he was named Outstanding Science Teacher, and followed with a Doctor of Philosophy in radiation biophysics from Kansas University in 1972. He recalls his career in the sciences and space research was greatly influenced by Sputnik. Notably, he was selected as an Atomic Energy Commission special fellow at Kansas University from 1969 to 1972 and was later recognized as an Eleanor Roosevelt International Cancer Research fellow at the International Union Against Cancer in Geneva, Switzerland from 1983 to 1984.

Throughout his tenure, Dr. Douple has been a member of the Radiation Research Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a board member of Sigma Xi. Additionally, he has served as president and chairperson of the Hanover Conservation Council, president of the Grafton County chapter of the American Cancer Society, board member of the Pine Park Commission in Hanover and president of the Solaridge Cluster Association. Likewise, Dr. Douple excelled on the board of directors of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University from 2017 to 2020.