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.​

If Clayton Barber were to overcome his congenital heart problem, his University of Florida Health surgical team would have to successfully transplant a heart, liver and kidney. They would have to go for the gold.

A triple-organ transplant like this would not only be a first at UF Health, it would be the first of its kind in the state of Florida. The milestone was soon followed by a second triple-organ transplant, and three more multiorgan transplants are already on the waitlist.

Kristy Boyer, Ph.D., an associate professor in the University of Florida Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering, recently received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate artificial intelligence (AI) education for middle school students. This project, a collaboration between Dr. Boyer and Maya Israel, Ph.D., an associate professor in the UF College of Education, will shed light on the emerging field of AI education within the context of computer science and conversational applications for the K-12 population.

In this project, 210 middle school students from diverse, underserved schools with limited access to AI and computer science will engage in two-week summer camps to learn computer science. Researchers will work with Alachua County public schools to disseminate information about the summer camp and how students can participate. There are no costs or requirements for students to participate, only that they show an interest in computer science. 

Todd Golde, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director of the McKnight Brain Institute and Steven DeKosky, M.D., Co-Deputy Director present an introduction to Alzheimer’s Disease and discuss the latest discoveries and treatments for the disease.

Looking to disclose your invention and you do not know how? You are not alone in the process; we are here to guide you! At UF Innovate | Tech Licensing, we treat your idea carefully. We evaluate it and determine if it’s patentable and has commercial value. If so, we market it to potential licensees. When we make a match, your idea can become a product or service.

Research from UF Warrington College of Business Associate Professor & Beth Ayers McCague Faculty Fellow Brian Swider finds that you need to let go a little, for the sake of your company and the health of you and your employees.

See Swider’s tips for recognizing perfectionism problems and how to avoid the perfectionist’s productivity trap in this story from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

UF Health physicians put themselves at risk to provide critical medical relief around the globe. 

Here are their stories:

This protected estuary, near Ponte Vedra Beach, is home to rich marshes, mounds of mussels and live oyster reefs. Over the last few years, a community-supported, multi-agency monitoring effort revealed that the estuary is showing signs of pollution. “The heart of all of this is that there is a water quality problem causing deterioration in the ecosystem that people enjoy, where wildlife thrives, and that benefits the environment and economy. This research will help the community develop restoration and management plans,” said researcher Ashley Smyth.

Join the Bob Graham Center for Public Service and UF’s Office of Sustainability on Apr 1 at 6 pm for the final event in the three-part “Sustainability Into Practice” series in partnership with the Florida Climate Institute and UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute. You will hear from experts on the connections between community resilience and our ability to respond and adapt to the impacts of climate change.