The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) will provide up to $11 million to the University of Nebraska to facilitate the development of drug therapies for radiation exposure.
Researchers from the university, led by David Berkowitz, PhD, and Ken Bayles, PhD, will collaborate with the DOD and consultants from the pharmaceutical industry on this five-year project.
Their primary aim is to identify potential drug candidates that may be able to protect troops from radiation exposure before and after the occurrence of a nuclear accident or weapons incident. If successful, the therapy might also help appease concerns of radiation toxicity from other sources, including x-ray and CT scanners.
"There is a patriotic aspect of helping the country and protecting our troops using the tools of biomedical science," Berkowitz said in a statement from the university. "That's something that has made this project special for all of us."
![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
