Paul Okunieff Awarded NIAID Contract

Dr. Paul Okunieff, Chair of the UF Department of Radiation Oncology, was recently awarded a 3-year, $4.5M contract with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through the Radiation Nuclear Countermeasures Program. This contract will support his project, “FGF-P: A Multipotential Mitigation Agent for Gastrointestinal Syndrome.” His team will seek to investigate the mechanisms by which fibroblast growth factor-peptide (FGF-P) reduces acute gastrointestinal syndrome. They hypothesize that FGF-P will effectively and safely mitigate GI syndrome while potentially benefiting other radiation-related and physical trauma-related consequences of a nuclear blast.