Alexander Hollaender was a leading researcher on the genetic effects of radiation. Born in Samter, Germany, in 1898 and arriving in the United States in 1921, Hollaender was educated at the University of Wisconsin, receiving his AB, MA, and Ph.D. there. He served on the faculty at the University of Tennessee and the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He was director of the division of biology at the Atomic Energy Commission's Oak Ridge National laboratory from 1946 until 1966. The 4 linear feet of the Alexander Hollaender Papers contain incoming and outgoing correspondence and reports relating to the genetic effects of radiation, specifically atomic radiation. Also included are documents of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy; the NAS Committee on the Biological Effects of Atomic Energy, Genetics Panel; the United Nations Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation; and the World Health Organization all of which Hollaender was closely involved with.

This collection of correspondence and documents focuses on Roughton's prolific life's work on respiratory physiology. His specific work at Cambridge University from the 1920s to the 1960s, as well as interludes in the U. S. during World War II, are covered, as is the scientific milieu in which he worked. Some of the subjects or organizations for which there are documents, are: Bermuda and Naples Zoological Research Stations; British Glue and Gelatin Research Assoc.; Biochemical Journal; Cambridge Philosophical Society; Cambridge University Departments of Physiology (pre-1939) and Colloid Science (post-1940); Harvard Fatique Lab.; Medical research Council; Trinity College Cambridge.