Dr. Maurice Tubiana, a pioneer in the use of radioactive isotopes for medical purposes, died on 24 September at the age of 93, according to an announcement issued by the French Society of Radiology (SFR). Also, he was an influential activist in public health, and in the late 1980s put pressure on government leaders to promote the health consequences of legal addictions.
Tubiana was born in 1920 in Algeria. He studied medicine in Paris, was appointed as an associate professor of medical physics in 1952, and later named head of the department of radiotherapy at the Institute Gustave Roussy. In 1982, he was named director of the institute.
He also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency and was a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee Euratom.
Tubiana became chairman of the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer and remained at the head of Europe's largest cancer center until 1988.
