Dr. Rowan Milner and Dr. Maria von Chamier of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine are part of a collaboration with the UF Colleges of Engineering and Medicine to characterize the microanatomy of the Yucatan miniature swine model to study targeting and delivery of alpha-particle dosimetry. The model characterization will include macroscopic computed tomography imaging performed at CVM followed by microscopic CT and histologic analyses performed by Dr. John Aris, Associate Professor in the CoM Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. Lead by Dr. Wesley Bolch, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Advanced Laboratory for Radiation Dosimetry Studies, the UF collaboration is part of a $12.9M multi-project P01 program grant awarded by the National Cancer Institute. Other projects on the grant will be conducted by collaborators at Johns Hopkins University. The P01 focuses on the development and refinement of radiopharmaceuticals, drugs administered to cancer patients that target cancer cells and release radiation to cause damage. The alpha-particle-emitting drugs are expected to cause reduced collateral tissue damage relative to other radiopharmaceuticals. Dr. Milner, Professor of Oncology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, is Director of the CVM Clinical and Translational Research program. Dr. von Chamier, Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, is a boarded laboratory animal veterinarian specializing in animal models of human disease. Please click here for the full story.
