USF Health to train nuclear pharmacists for emerging cancer treatments with new federal funding

The USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy will help train the next generation of nuclear pharmacists as part of a $47.3 million federal investment to establish Tampa Bay as a national center for radiopharmaceuticals - medicines that use radioactive materials to detect and treat tumors.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration announced the funding for the Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine, or FORGE, a coalition of cancer care, university, college and startup partners. USF will receive $6 million to support the , which will develop specialized training in nuclear pharmacy.

Nuclear pharmacists prepare and dispense radiopharmaceuticals, which combine radioactive material with drugs designed to target specific cancer cells. Many are used in an approach called theranostics, which combines imaging and targeted treatment to help doctors identify tumors and deliver radiation directly to them.

"USF Health has the interprofessional infrastructure and academic expertise to train the next generation of nuclear pharmacists to help patients across Florida and beyond," said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. "We are excited that the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy will help train the pharmacists who will help transform how cancer is treated."

The training program is part of a broader regional effort to build the facilities, companies and workforce needed to expand radiopharmaceutical development and manufacturing across the Tampa Bay region. Nick Carris, PharmD, and Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, are co-PIs, and Dr. Carris is the program lead for USF.

"When we work together, extraordinary things happen-magic happens-and not just for our individual institutions, but for the entire region," USF President Moez Limayem said. "FORGE is an example of partnership at its best and USF is proud to be part of it. Our new nuclear pharmacy training program will educate the talent needed for these highly specialized careers and will help build an entirely new industry in Tampa Bay."

FORGE partners say they expect the training will create direct pathways into specialized radiopharmacy careers, helping graduates find high-paying jobs in the region.

Moffitt Cancer Center and Speros, Moffitt's 775-acre life sciences campus in Pasco County, lead the coalition. Other partnerships include Embarc Collective and Pasco-Hernando State College.

Josh Carpenter, president of Speros and chief integration officer at Moffitt, said much of the supply of isotopes, the radioactive materials used to produce these treatments, still comes from outside the United States. "We are building the facilities, the companies and the workforce to make, test and deliver these therapies right here in Tampa Bay," he said.

Building on Moffitt's existing investment at Speros, the coalition projects its efforts will support about 4,000 jobs across the Tampa Bay region once fully operational.