Dr. Sarah Baatout is head of the radiobiology unit at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN) in Mol, Belgium. The unit evaluates the potential risks of ionizing radiation on health and conducts radiation risk assessments for occupational, accidental, medical, or space radiation exposure through high throughput molecular and cellular technologies. The work is performed in close collaboration with the European Commission, the European Space Agency, Belgian and European Universities as well as hospitals and research institutes.
Dr. Baatout graduated in biology in 1990 from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, and then received a PhD in biochemistry (field: oncology). She is a guest-professor in radiation protection, radiobiology and space biology in 3 Belgian Universities (Ghent, Namur, Leuven).
In 2018, Dr. Baatout received the BeSpace personality of the year award and was recognized by Femmes d'Aujourdhui as one of the 85 women that make Belgium move. She went in winter 2017-2018 to the Belgian Princess Elisabeth station in Antarctica to conduct space-related health studies in extreme environment.
Dr. Baatout is member of the ionizing radiation section of the High Council for Health, Secretary-treasurer of the European Radiation Research Society and chair of the Belgian Hadrontherapy Consortium.
Dr. Baatout has been member of the Belgian delegation since the sixty session in 2013 and alternate representative for the sixty-fifth to the sixty-eighth sessions. She is the representative of Belgium to UNSCEAR since the 69th session in 2022.
Dr. Geert Biermans is Head of the Impact and Site Remediation expert group at the Belgian Centre for Nuclear Research (SCK CEN). His main research focus is oriented towards environmental radioactivity and legacy remediation, sustainable management of NORM and improving radiological environmental impact assessment.
Dr. Biermans graduated from the University of Antwerp with a MSc in Cell and Systems Biology in 2009. He obtained a PhD from the Belgian Centre for Nuclear Research (SCK CEN) and the University of Hasselt on the biological effects of radiation in plants in 2013. In 2013, he joined the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) as expert in natural radiation, NORM and legacy sites. He later held the function of Head of the Environment and Emergency Preparedness section at FANC between 2019 and 2024.
Between 2020 and 2025, Dr. Biermans has served as a member of the Group of Experts for Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty.
Dr. Biermans has been member for the Belgian delegation to UNSCEAR since the 69th session and its alternate representative since the 70th UNSCEAR session.
