R. William Field is an academic scholar and Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology within the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.[1] He received a BS and MS degree in Biology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Preventive Medicine from the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa [2] in 1994.
Dr. Field is an occupational and environmental epidemiologist as well as an internationally-recognized expert on the health effects of radon gas. The Iowa Radon Lung Cancer Study, which was overseen by Dr. Field, is widely considered the most comprehensive residential radon study ever performed. The study [3] found a 50% increased lung cancer risk at the EPA's radon action level of 4 pCi/L.
Prof. Field directs the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's funded Occupational Epidemiology Training Program at the University of Iowa.[4] He has served on numerous national and international committees including the World Health Organization's International Radon Project,[5] and currently serves on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Science Advisory Board, Radiation Protection Committee and a National Academy of Science Committee reviewing the impact of uranium mining in Virginia. President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Field to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health in October 2009.[6] The board is appointed by the President to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on its activities under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.
He started his research career in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979. His study describing the occurrence of radioactive iodine in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) was the only peer-reviewed scientific study documenting radioactive contamination of the wild food chain in the vicinity of Three Mile Island. Subsequent studies examining the deposition of cesium-137 in the white-tailed deer indicated there was not widespread contamination of cesium in the vicinity of Three Mile Island following the Three Mile Island accident. In May 2011, Dr. Field was honored as the recipient of Millersville University of Pennsylvania's highest alumni honor, the Distinguised Alumni Service Award.