Almost 98% of the patients treated at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute are treated on research protocols so it stands to reason that our annual fundraising golf tournament — Play Golf. Fight Cancer.^® — would dedicate funds raised to research. This year’s 15th Anniversary Tournament, held October 21st at World Golf Village, is no exception.

Thank you to everyone who has called or emailed your elected representatives in Congress to speak up for proton therapy. While we will not know the outcome for several weeks, we know that we are doing everything possible to fight for patient access to proton therapy.

An exceptional gift from The Lastinger Family Foundation of St. Augustine, FL, has created the Lastinger Family Foundation Endowment for Pediatric Care at UF Health Proton Therapy Institute. 

The fund will provide support for the care of pediatric patients and their families at the Institute. Support generated by this endowment will help our pediatric patients and their families in many ways, but in particular, through the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute’s Pediatric and Child Life Program.

We are capping off the decade with a commencement – the start of patient treatments in our compact proton therapy gantry, Proteus^®ONE. This singular event is the culmination of three years of planning, constructing, installing and commissioning. It has been made possible through the efforts of a large team of highly trained men and women from many organizations. I’d like to acknowledge, thank, and congratulate all who were involved in this achievement. Vendors who planned and built the 10,000-sq.-ft. expansion are Walker Architects, Inc., and Gilbane Building Company.