Office of Community Relations
UF Government and Community Relations

Monday, November, 2, 2020
Across the University of Florida, our 16 colleges, numerous institutes and health care facilities embrace our shared mission of outreach and service to improve and enrich our community, nation and the world. UF in the Community spotlights the impact of UF in our region.

Although UF has students and employees throughout the state, North Central Florida is home to much of our faculty and staff and to our 50,000+ students. Like all area residents, we want a vibrant, safe, healthy and equitable place in which to live and thrive. Here are some of the ways in which we are enhancing our shared community.​
UF Health study shows flu vaccination might confer protection against severe COVID-19
A flu vaccination might do more than protect against influenza. It might also shield some people from a severe case of COVID-19 — even though the infection is caused by an entirely different virus. People who received a flu vaccination in the year before testing positive for the novel coronavirus were nearly two-and-a-half times less likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, than those who were unvaccinated, an analysis of patient data by University of Florida Health researchers has found.
UF Scientists join U.S. and international colleagues to explore factors behind higher numbers of COVID-19 deaths in men
Why are more men than women around the world dying from COVID-19? This is the question Dr. Ana Conesa Cegarra and a team of researchers and clinicians from the U.S. and Europe are trying to understand.  
“The mortality rate is higher for men worldwide, even though infection rates are very similar,” says Conesa. We are looking to explain these differences so we can identify new ways to combat the virus and help determine treatment.” 
Join us (virtually) at the October UF Eye Opener Discovery Breakfast
featuring

Dr. Christian Jobin
Professor of Medicine and Program Leader,
Cancer Microbiota & Host Response

Tuesday, Oct. 10
8 a.m. ET
UF artists build a virtual arts-infusion program for Howard Bishop Middle School
During this transitional period of distance learning, many kids have been robbed of their creative outlets often found in school spaces. The University of Florida Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship (CAME) teamed up with the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and the Digital Worlds Institute to create a virtual arts-infusion program for Howard Bishop Middle School.
UF scientists make big stride in assisting Florida citrus industry with greening-resistant citrus trees
UF scientists have achieved a major milestone in their quest to develop a citrus greening-resistant tree by sequencing the genome of a fruit plant that’s a close cousin to citrus trees. They have sequenced the genome from trifoliate orange, in collaboration with scientists from the University of California at Berkeley, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute and UF’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research. The new genome will help breed new citrus trees that will survive under today’s challenging conditions, including invasive pests, viruses and changing climates.
New UF Warrington College of Business podcast: We are Warrington. What’s your work at home style?
In the first episode of the We Are Warrington podcast, host Andy Lord chats with management faculty member Dr. Brian Swider about work-from-home styles, what makes people happy at work and the future of the teaching profession after COVID-19.
UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine honors Tom Petty and the impact of his music on the human spirit
Tom Petty believed that music should be shared without limits, and that its power lies in its ability to transcend demographics like age, health condition, or socioeconomic status. A vision shared by Arts in Medicine and manifest through music performances at the hospital bedside – harnessing the transformative power of music.

And so, Tom's song "Won't Back Down" has become an anthem of resilience for those in the UF Health and Gainesville, FL communities and beyond.

Enjoy UF Health patients, families, and staff performing the song with Arts in Medicine musicians in residence in celebration and honor of Tom Petty's legacy of promoting accessibility to the arts and music, no matter the circumstance.

To donate to AIM's Music in Medicine Fund, visit www.tompettybirthdaybash.com/donate
COVID-19 Resources:
  • UF Health COVID-19 Site
  • UF Health Screen, Test and Protect Dashboard
  • UF Updates on COVID-19
Community Resources:
  • Florida Department of Health: COVID-19 data and surveillance dashboard
  • Alachua County
  • City of Gainesville
  • Santa Fe College
  • City of Alachua
  • Greater Gainesville Chamber
  • United Way of North Central Florida
Stay Well.
Susan Crowley
Assistant Vice President, Community Relations