The Alan H. Porter, M.D., & Claudia B. Porter, R.N., Department of Radiation Oncology is pleased to announce that UF has named Paul Okunieff, MD, Professor Emeritus in recognition of his distinguished career and many years of service to the university, the field of radiation oncology, and patients with cancer.
Professor Emeritus is an honorary status awarded by the university to retired faculty members for distinctive and meritorious service. The designation recognizes an individual’s contributions to teaching, research and service and allows recipients to maintain an academic connection with the university following retirement.
Dr. Okunieff joined the department in 2009 and served for 16 years as chair. Under his leadership, research efforts were significantly expanded, garnering national recognition and advanced technologies designed to improve the precision and quality of radiation therapy.
Among those advances was the introduction of the Elekta Unity MR-Linac in 2022. The system combines magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with radiation therapy, allowing physicians to visualize a patient’s tumor and surrounding anatomy during treatment and adapt treatment accordingly.
A recognized expert in therapeutic radiology, Dr. Okunieff has spent his career developing new approaches to cancer treatment and expanding our understanding of how the body responds to radiation. He is a pioneer in the use of in-vivo nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to study tumors and in the development of stereotactic radiation therapy, a highly precise approach that delivers concentrated radiation to a tumor while limiting exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. His research has also contributed to the development of methods for detecting radiation exposure and investigating ways to protect people from the harmful effects of radiation.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Okunieff has helped advance standards of care for several cancer diagnoses and has received at least $40 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Before joining UF, Dr. Okunieff served as chair of Radiation Oncology at the University of Rochester and as chief of Radiation Oncology at the National Cancer Institute. He earned his medical degree from Harvard University and holds degrees in computer science, electrical engineering and biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Okunieff served for four years as director of the University of Florida Cancer Center. Nationally, he served for five years as chair of the Center for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation. He has also contributed his expertise to national committees focused on the safety and quality of therapeutic radiation delivery. In January 2024, Dr. Okunieff received the Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence from the Emerald Coast Medical Association, recognizing his longstanding contributions to medicine, research and health care.
