UF Health Cancer Institute became the nation’s 72nd National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in June 2023, the only one based at a public university in Florida. The institute counts more than 350 researchers, clinicians and educators from the University of Florida and UF Health, with members holding academic appointments across all 16 UF colleges and more than a dozen based at the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology. UF Health Shands Hospital ranks among the nation’s top 50 hospitals for cancer treatment in U.S. News & World Report‘s 2026-27 “Best Hospitals” report, while UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in Florida for pediatric cancer care, ranked No. 35 nationally in that specialty. The institute serves a 26-county area in North Central Florida, addressing a disease that is the second-leading cause of death for Floridians in a state with the nation’s second-highest cancer burden. Its comprehensive care model includes minimally invasive and robotic surgery, proton and intensity-modulated radiotherapy, a 1.5-Tesla MRI-guided linear accelerator, stem cell transplantation, and targeted therapy and immunotherapy paired with precision medicine. For fiscal year 2026-27, five UF Health Cancer Institute research teams received Florida Cancer Innovation Fund grants for projects spanning prostate cancer monitoring, hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer treatments, natural-product-based cancer therapies, kava’s effect on tobacco-associated lung cancer risk, and a mobile health intervention to reduce fatigue in cancer survivors.
