Paul Hodges established a department that achieved international recognition for clinical radiology, clinical research, and basic-science research that focused on the reduction of radiation dose to patients and improvement of diagnostic image quality. When Hodges reached the age of mandatory retirement in 1958 after an extraordinarily successful 31-year reign, Dr. Robert Moseley, then 34 years old, became chairman of the radiology department. Moseley, who would serve as chairman until 1971, was a big man physically, intellectually, and in spirit. He vigorously pursued Dr. Hodges' goals by expanding the machine shop to develop new imaging equipment and by recruiting strong clinical investigators such as Claus Ranniger, a pioneer in angiography in the United States, and Galdino Valvasore, who received international acclaim for his work on high-resolution tomography of the middle ear. From his experience as radiologist and associate chief of staff at Los Alamos Medical Center, Moseley was well informed of biological effects of radiation. Later, he would use this information to good advantage as Chairman of the AEC's Advisory Committee on Biology and Medicine. He became associated with the Argonne National Laboratory, when members such as Warren Sinclair, held joint appointments as faculty in the radiology department at the University of Chicago.

Moseley's interest in radiation biology led to the joint appointment of John H. Rust in the departments of radiology and pharmacology. Rust, a former reserve officer in the horse cavalry and later a colonel in the U.S. Army, had served on the Radiation Advisory Committee with the World Health Organization in Geneva and was recognized internationally as an authority on intermediary metabolism in irradiated animals. Reduction of patients' radiation exposure was a central theme of Rust's research, and with Moseley he coedited three books on that topic during the 1960s. The department's interest in radiation exposure led naturally to an interest in carcinogenesis, which resulted in a joint appointment of the late Stan Vesselinovich, a veterinarian, in the departments of radiology and pathology. Vesselinovich, an authority on chemical carcinogenesis, and Dieudonne Mewissen, a radiobiologist, were instrumental in expanding research in radiation exposure. In 1942, Dr. Mewissen was awarded the "Medaille d'Or du Gouvernement Belge." He also received the Dag Hammarskjold International Peace Award for Scientific Achievement in 1980 for his exceptional service to peace and international cooperation. This award honored his research in the delayed biological effects of low-dose irradiation.