[1] RERF carries out research in numerous scientific fields, including epidemiology, clinical medicine, genetics, and immunology.

[2] Findings from RERF's studies are utilized not only for the medical care and welfare of the A-bomb survivors but also for the establishment of international radiation protection standards.

[2] ABCC's mission was to determine the long-term effects on health from exposure to radiation in A-bomb survivors and their children.

[1] In the 1950s, an extensive interview survey was conducted, based on which records were compiled for each of the A-bomb survivor participants in the ABCC studies.

About 120,000 subjects selected from residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki identified through the national census in 1950 have been followed since that time, including 94,000 atomic-bomb survivors and 27,000 unexposed individuals.

Using the data collected during these health examinations, it is possible to conduct long-term follow-up studies of the prevalence and incidence of diseases and changes in physiological and biochemical endpoints.

Long-term observation of the changes in measurement values, such as blood pressure, benefits participants and contributes to the health management of the A-bomb survivors.

The children of the atomic bomb survivors are studied to determine whether genetic effects might be apparent that could be related to parental A-bomb radiation exposure.

Subsequent studies on mortality and cancer incidence, chromosome abnormalities, and serum proteins were also conducted, but again no radiation effect has been observed.

Individual radiation doses are assessed by evaluation of chromosome aberration frequency in the blood cells of A-bomb survivors.

Radiation doses can also be estimated with special techniques that measure trace amounts of radicals that remain in the teeth of A-bomb survivors.