STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Yan Leyfman was born in Belarus in 1989, three years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. His family lived only about 75 miles from the nuclear plant, and as a toddler, Mr. Leyfman had a constellation of mysterious symptoms: cysts that covered his entire body, fingernails that fell out, limbs that were swollen and skin that itched torturously.

Chernobyl Radiation Victim, at Stony Brook, Sets Cancer Cure as Goal – NYTimes – May 24, 2011