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.​

The UF Health lung transplant team has collaborated with researchers around the world to identify preliminary guidelines for successful transplantation in patients whose lungs have been permanently damaged by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

In a landmark study published online March 31 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, members of the lung transplant program at UF Health, the University of Florida’s academic health center, describe an analysis of early findings from patients who received lung transplants after COVID-19 damaged their lungs beyond repair.

Alachua County sheriffs are highly trained in firearms and diligent about safety precautions, but mixing in a medical emergency during shooting practice took everyone by surprise. Dozens of first responders suddenly were called on to save one of their own, who suffered a stroke during shooting practice. Follow Steve through his journey, from his life-threatening moments to an outpouring of support and finally a journey back that would change his life forever.

Researchers with the University of Florida’s academic health center — UF Health — announced today that they have collaborated with NVIDIA researchers to create GatorTron™, an artificial intelligence transformer natural language processing model intended to accelerate research and medical decision-making by extracting insights from massive volumes of clinical data with unprecedented speed and clarity.

Florida coastal communities need clean water to preserve residential lifestyles, tourism, fishing, and a host of other activities in the state. Recognizing the importance of water quality as a significant component of Florida’s current and future economy and quality of life for its citizens, the newly established UF Center for Coastal Solutions is involved in collaborations to address long term solutions for issues and current threats to the Florida coast.

At the UF/TREEO Center we know that having a workplace safety and health program is one of the most effective ways an organization can educate, influence, and protect their employees. Unfortunately, management teams who are responsible for worker safety often do not have adequate training to support their leadership roles and responsibilities in this area.

To help bridge this gap, UF/TREEO developed the OSHA Safety and Health Management Specialization for Leadership. This specialization, intended for safety directors and managers, provides the necessary courses to aid safety leaders in creating and maintaining a culture of safety that focuses on identifying hazards, mitigating risk, and reducing workplace injuries.

Starting your day by thinking about what kind of leader you want to be can make you more effective at work, a new study finds.

When study participants took that step, they were more likely to report helping co-workers and providing strategic vision than on days they didn’t do the morning reflection. They also felt more leaderlike on those days, perceiving more power and influence in the office.

In 2013, when officials at the University of Florida set out to build an online platform where students could receive an education that was of the same caliber and quality that is expected of UF, they stared at an empty drawing board. 

Now, interest in receiving an education online from UF has grown in recent years. The key to UF’s success with its online programs is that they are no different in terms of quality and rigor as in-person classes. 

The result: numerous UF online programs — both graduate and undergraduate — continue to be recognized as among the best in the nation.