Office of Community Relations

UF Government and Community Relations

Monday, February 20, 2023

You're invited to the March 8th UF Eye Opener Discovery Breakfast with Dr. David Nelson for a UF Health Update

UF Health Shands liver transplant program outcomes show best 1-year survival rates

University of Florida Health is home to the liver transplant program with the highest one-year liver graft survival in the United States, according to a report released this month by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

At 98.97%, the program’s success rate outstrips the national survival rate of 91.89%.



Put simply: A patient who undergoes a liver transplant at UF Health Shands Hospital is not only more likely to survive and recover from a difficult procedure, but also to continue to thrive a year later. At UF, the chance of graft failure in the first year is 75% lower than national average, according to SRTR.

UF to use $23.5 million grant to build AI infrastructure to improve critical care

The University of Florida has been awarded $3.6 million of a $23.5 million multicenter grant for a four-year data-generation project that is unprecedented in its scope, aimed at building an infrastructure for artificial intelligence in critical care and advancing artificial intelligence in ways that improve patients’ ability to recover from life-threatening illnesses.



Funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Bridge to Artificial Intelligence, or Bridge2AI program, this project creates a network of university health systems that will support a comprehensive repository of data for AI research from more than 100,000 critically ill patients.

Wertheim UF Scripps Institute scientists gain insight about how our brains create memories

Think of a new longer-term memory as a construction site inside the brain. The brain’s neurons restructure themselves and build or demolish connections with other neurons to store the memory for retrieval when needed.



Researchers at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology have discovered that these cellular building materials — in this case, sets of proteins — undergo experience-dependent changes while forming short- and long-term memories.

This discovery enlightens future research about how the brain’s enormously complex systems operate. That has potential implications, scientists said, for better understanding neurological disorders. Those include Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

UF and Alachua County Public Schools grant will work to expand school-based mental health services

Public schools can be an important setting for identifying students’ mental health needs. A recently funded project will work to expand school-based mental health (SBMH) services and provider retention in Alachua County.

 

Gator Connect, a $4.8 million grant across the UF School Psychology, School Counseling and Mental Health Counseling programs, will provide enhanced training and assistantship funding to a total of 15 graduate student trainees — five from each program. 

New ‘invisible finger’ technology poses potential phone-hacking threats, UF researchers say

When a team of researchers from the University of Florida unveiled new technology that allows someone to hack into a nearby touchscreen-enabled device using what they call an “invisible finger,” those in the field of cybersecurity took notice.



The discovery, publicly recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Computer Engineering during its 2022 Symposium on Security and Privacy, was reported in dozens of trade publications, including PC Magazine and Digital Information World. And leading device manufacturers quickly reached out to the researchers, inviting input on how they could get ahead of the potential security threat.

UF/IFAS launches new citrus program for home gardeners

Citrus is an iconic part of the Florida experience. Many residents and visitors have fond memories of driving past acres of lush citrus trees whose annual blossoms filled the air with a distinctive and lovely aroma.

Today, a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid is responsible for transmitting a bacterium deadly to citrus trees resulting in citrus greening. 

After the disease was first found in Florida in 2005, many homeowners were discouraged from growing citrus in their home landscapes. At the time, there were no UF/IFAS recommendations tailored for home gardeners to support them successfully growing citrus in the HLB era.

Now, the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (UF/IFAS) has responded to home gardeners who have long wanted to plant a citrus tree again in their home landscape. And they are working to develop new growing guidelines, a new website, and even new trees to support homeowners in that effort.

UF/IFAS Home Citrus website: https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/home-citrus/

From UF/IFAS: Be aware of these common toxic plants, experts say

Weeds and invasive plants can be a nuisance to a home or business landscape, and some of them are also toxic to people or animals. A new UF/IFAS publication details some of the most common poisonous plants found in Florida residential landscapes.



Ingestion of poisonous plants make up only 3% of Poison Control cases, but can be fatal in rare instances. However, there is no need to panic, experts say. The key is to be aware of the plant’s presence and the potential risks.

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT

Brittany Wise

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