DANBURY, CONN. — The long-term impact of radiation exposure on the health of atomic blast and nuclear accident survivors will be explored in a lecture by endocrinologist Dr. Joseph L. Belsky at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, at Western Connecticut State University.

Belsky will lecture on the “Effects of Atomic Radiation on Normal Populations” in Room 125 of the Science Building on WestConn’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Admission will be free and the public is invited to attend. The talk will be followed by a reception with light refreshments.

Belsky will draw upon his extensive field studies and research assessing the health impact of intense radiation exposure on the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese cities devastated by atomic bomb explosions at the end of World War II. He served as chief of medicine from 1969 to 1972 for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, formed to study the long-term health effects of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors and their families.

The talk will survey research findings on the long-term health profile of another population exposed to nuclear weapons radiation, the residents of Bikini Island in the South Pacific during U.S. testing of the hydrogen bomb in the 1950s. The presentation also will discuss studies of health effects in populations residing near the sites of major nuclear power plant accidents, including the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union and the 1979 Three Mile Island reactor meltdown in Pennsylvania.

Over a distinguished medical career spanning more than five decades, Belsky has served as an endocrinologist at hospitals in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and as a clinical instructor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. Recipient of a master’s in chemistry from Wesleyan University and an M.D. degree from Albany Medical College, he joined Danbury Hospital’s staff in 1964 as director of medical education. Following his service on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki commission, he became Danbury Hospital’s chief of medicine and director of the internal medicine residency program in 1972, and from 1980 to 1996 served as chief of endocrinology and metabolism. He remains affiliated with Danbury Hospital as a practicing physician in the endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes department.

Belsky has published numerous research articles in professional journals and has participated actively in regional and national medical associations. From 1985 to 1989, he served as Connecticut governor for the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the ACP honored him in 1999 as a recipient of its Mastership award.

His lecture will be presented as part of the WCSU “Science at Night” series, which provides a forum for specialists in a wide range of fields to present scientific topics of general interest to the academic community and the public. For more information, contact Professor of Biology Dr. Thomas Philbrick at (203) 837-8773 or the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

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