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RUTGEISS
THE STATE UNIVERSITY
OF NEW JERSEY
March 20, 1979
LIVINGSTON COLLEGE + GRAOUATE PROGRAMIN ANTHROPOLOGY
NEW BRUNSWICK - NEW JERSEY 08903 - 201/932-2593
Dr. Hugn Pratt
Medical Building
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton,
New York 11973
Dear Dr.
Pratt,
IT am a former Peace Corps volunteer who spent two years
on Utirik Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
At present, I am
doing preparatory research for my doctoral dissertation in
socio-cultural anthrovology, particularly in relation to the
ways in which the radioactive fallout has affected the Islanders.
It is in this sense that. I am writing you.
First of all,
I would like to invite you to participate in
a symposium T have been asked to chair for the American Associ-
ation for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Francisco
during January of 1980 for that organization's annual meeting.
The title of the symposium is ""thno-Epidemiology:
The
Marsnall Islanders Twenty-Five Years After "=xposure to Radiation.”
I propose to discuss the radiological findings—-both short and
long-term in the exposed Marshallese vopulations, and especially
in relation to the enigmatic properties of the radioiodines.
As
resident physician in the Marshalls under the aegis of Brookhaven,
you would be able to relate firsthand knowledge concerning the
ongoing problems facins the Marshallese, and your presence at
this symposium would greatly benefit those in attendance.
Aside from yourself, I have invited Dr. Conard, who has
headed the Marshalls study over the years, and do hope that hewill be able to participate in the symposium.
I have also invited
the following people:
Dr. Frank. von Hipvel, a physicist from
the Department of Environmental Sciences at Princeton University
who
svecializes
in radiation science;
Dr.
Helen Caldicott,
a
pediatrician from Boston Children's Hospital wno has expertise
in radiation-induced pathologies;
Dr.
John Gofman,
a chemist from
the UC Lawrence Radiation Laboratory who specializes in radiation
science;
and Dr.
Konrad Kotrady from the University of Utah
Medical School, who formerly worked in the Marshalls under Brook—
haven.
JI have also invited an anthropologist--Dr. Robert Kiste
from the University of Hawaii--to participate in order to provide
the symposium with ethnographic information concerning Marshallese