Celebrating the Holidays in 2025
On Dec. 18, the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute held its annual holiday events for pediatric patients currently receiving treatment. Santa Joe made an appearance to visit the kids and distribute gifts.
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Groundbreaking Research Published in The Lancet
A clinical research article published in December in The Lancet shows that patients with head and neck cancer treated with proton therapy may have better survival and quality of life outcomes compared to people treated with IMRT. At five years from treatment, 90.9% of proton patients were alive compared to 81% of patients who were treated with traditional radiation— a 10% improvement in overall survival.
Dr. Okunieff is Honored
In December, Dr. Paul Okunieff was awarded the CaPTC Award of Honor for his research in personalized prostate cancer treatment. The CaPTC advances collaboration to improve patient outcomes and reduce prostate cancer worldwide.
Research Presented at ASTRO 2025
The UF Radiation Oncology residents presented their research at the October 2025 ASTRO conference. All the residents have the opportunity to complete a rotation at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute to understand how proton therapy may be used to treat patients and which patients can benefit the most from this advanced treatment. Much of their research focuses on the role of proton therapy in cancer care. Find out more about their research at ASTRO 2025.
Alumni Reception Held at The Villages
This past November, we hosted our second annual alumni reception in The Villages, Fla. Over 40 alumni joined several of our staff members to connect with each other and learn about some of the latest updates at the Institute. Thank you to everyone who came out and your continued advocacy and thoughtful suggestions on how we can spread the word about proton therapy. The next day we had the opportunity to attend an educational conference focusing on the latest in prostate cancer care right there in The Villages. Dr. Lucas Sapienza joined a panel discussion about the various radiation treatment options for prostate cancer to help newly diagnosed men get the information they need to move forward with treatment.
2025 Community Outreach Report
In 2025, the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute had the opportunity to connect with the community and provide education surrounding proton therapy and radiation treatment options at over 40 events throughout Northeast Florida and beyond. Various groups came for tours of the proton therapy gantries, and we met thousands of community members at local health and wellness fairs. We are grateful to the many groups that welcomed us to speak at their events, including multiple rotary clubs, the Being a Woman Breast Cancer Support Group, the DeFeat Cancer organization, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority and the St. Mary’s Fraternal Order of Eagles. Many of these opportunities to share the benefits of proton therapy were set up thanks to past proton patients and Proton Ambassadors. Thank you! We look forward to reaching more people in the community in 2026. If you know of an educational opportunity for the staff at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute to be a part of, please reach out to us at Education@FloridaProton.org.