The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has received a $10 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to create a new center that will work on ways to treat large numbers of people exposed to radiation in a terrorist attack.

Seven other sites, including Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, were awarded similar grants.

"There is very serious concern about a radiological weapon being brought into this country and a 'dirty bomb' [being] detonated," said Pitt principal investigator Dr. Joel Greenberger. "The scary thing is we just do not have available anything that can treat large numbers of radiation-exposed people."

He will try to develop an agent called manganese superoxide dismutase plasmid liposome, which has been shown to protect the esophagus and healthy lung tissue of mice treated with radiation for lung cancer and is now in human trials.

It might be able to protect emergency workers from radiation effects if given a few hours before they go into a contaminated environment, Dr. Greenberger said. His team also is working on therapies that could mitigate the impact of exposure.

Researchers also will try to find ways to protect mitochondria, the cell's energy producer, which can explode when irradiated. Chemicals spill out that cause a cascade of biochemical events leading to death of the cell.

Ideally, the researchers will develop a simple pill or skin patch that can be stockpiled to treat the variety of people who might require it.

"We need something to give to pregnant women, to children," Dr. Greenberger said. Right now, he said, "we just don't have anything."

The Pitt site is focusing on drug discovery, but other centers will work on improving bone marrow transplantation, developing devices to rapidly measure radiation exposure and other projects.

Dr. Greenberger noted that center findings also could benefit people who could be exposed to radiation because of nuclear plant malfunctions or other situations unrelated to terrorism.