Manish Vaidya, associate professor of behavior analysis, is investigating alternatives to anesthesia -- using motion monitoring and behavioral methods in a game to teach young patients to stay mostly motionless while awake for radiation therapy.

The project -- PROMISE, or Pediatric Radiation Oncology with Movie-Induced Sedation Effect -- is funded by a $900,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to UT-Southwestern and UNT.

Vaidya and first-year graduate student Maria Otero are part of an interdisciplinary team of radiation oncologists, computer scientists and a pediatric psychologist working on the problem.