Characterizing Interactions between Biology and Electromagnetic Radiation

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Topic Description

Post Date: April 20, 2026

Expiration Date: April 20, 2028

Low-intensity electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is encountered both in therapeutic settings and from environmental sources such as cell phones and ultraviolet light. Therapeutically, EMR in the form of optical, electric, and magnetic fields has been used to treat a wide range of conditions, including bone, joint, and tissue injuries, mental illness, chronic pain, edema, and cancer. Growing evidence suggests that low dose and intensity EMR frequencies can modulate a wide range of biological processes, such as inflammation, cell repair and regeneration, blood flow, perfusion, and mitochondrial function contributing to therapeutic efficacy. At the same time, understanding of EMR-related health impact must also account for potential adverse effects, including unintended interactions with normal tissue function, variability in individual response, cumulative exposures, and possible long-term safety concerns.  To understand these EMR-driven health effects, new methods and technologies including quantum and AI approaches, are needed for quantitatively measuring and controlling EMR transport in tissue. Advances in EMR sensing, imaging, and delivery technologies promise to revolutionize personalized therapies by optimizing EMR dosimetry throughout the body while also improving the ability to assess safety, detect unintended biological effects, and quantitively measure the beneficial vs. potentially harmful exposure. This will ensure safety and efficacy of innovative EMR therapies, while generating new insights into potential off-target and background effects of low intensity electromagnetic radiation.

Central Scientific Contact:
Afrouz Anderson, PHD
[email protected]

Participating ICOs

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

NIBIB’s interests include the discovery of design principles and modeling approaches to characterize the interaction of EMR and biology toward the development of technologies and their integration into bioengineering, sensing, imaging, and computational frameworks to understand dose-response, improve human health, and advance medical care. NIBIB supports the development of EMR-based technologies that are expected to be applicable to a broad spectrum of disorders and diseases. Projects that use a single tissue, organ, disease, or physiological condition as a model system to enable the development of broadly applicable EMR-based technologies are within the NIBIB mission.

ICO Scientific Contact:
Afrouz Anderson, PHD
[email protected]

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

NIEHS supports research that examines how the environment affects biological systems across the lifespan with the goal of translating this knowledge to reduce disease and promote human health.  NIEHS will support epidemiology, mechanistic and computational studies that explore the health impacts of environmentally relevant levels of exposure from across the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., radiofrequency, ultraviolet, gamma-irradiation, but excluding direct exposures resulting from medical care).

Examples could include:

  • Health impacts of EMR from cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, cell towers, wearables
  • Mechanisms of action during windows of susceptibility and/or developmental stages
  • Individual variability in response to EMR 
  • EMR as a component of the environmental exposome
  • Role of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in response to EMR
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