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.​

For patients with eye cancer, University of Florida Health ophthalmology specialist Gibran S. Khurshid, M.D., is sowing seeds of hope.

In Khurshid’s case, those seeds are tiny particles of radioactive iodine. Attached to a gold implant about the size of a contact lens, the “seeds” deliver tightly focused radiation to eye cancer, oruveal melanoma.

As soon as the steel roll-up doors at Gate 3 were lifted Friday at 4:42 p.m., septuagenarians Leonard George and Willie Jackson Sr. strolled in, told only that they were at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to be honored as the first Black football players in program history.

A few steps toward the main concourse, both men caught notice of the large mural honoring them as "Barrier Breakers." They paused, smiled and fist-bumped one another as the emotion built, finally reaching the wall that now serves as a permanent home of the legacy they created more than 50 years ago.

In an effort to support the owners of equine athletes and other animals visiting Ocala’s new world-class World Equestrian Center, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has embarked on a strategic alliance with the center to provide leading-edge patient care in a new 40,000-square-foot hospital facility located on center grounds.

The new facility will be known as the UF Veterinary Hospital at WEC. Construction of the hospital is currently underway, with the opening estimated to take place next spring.

The University of Florida and UF Health on Tuesday announced an additional $25 million gift from the Lauren and Lee Fixel Family Foundation aimed at improving the lives of patients across the globe through the continued expansion of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health.

The new investment will spur growth in the areas of national and international telemedicine, Alzheimer’s disease clinical research, mental health, traumatic brain injury and ALS and will help cultivate the next generation of expert researchers tackling these challenging diseases.

Florida growers produced 606 million pounds of fresh-market tomatoes last year, which brought in $463 million in revenue. But with competition from places like Mexico, farmers are always looking for an edge – to grow more and bigger fruit.

That’s why University of Florida scientist Tong Geon Lee spends countless hours in his lab and fields looking for the right combination of genes to expand the size of individual tomatoes and to help growers increase their yields.

Read the column by Dr. J. Scott Angle UF vice president for Agriculture and Natural Resources and leader of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Angle shares that UF scientists are working together with farmers to place a big bet on plant breeding to innovate our way to agriculture that’s both more resilient against intensifying weather and that delivers more climate solutions.

Face it: Attractive people are more likely to land jobs and get promoted in their careers, a fact borne out by decades of research. This is due partially to the implicit bias of hiring managers and bosses, but our research shows that attractive people also physically project personal power in a way that makes them shine. The good news? Anyone can adopt this behavior to display confidence and help level the hiring stage. Joyce Bono, Min-Hsuan Tu and Elisabeth Gilbert of UF tell us how in this Gainesville Sun guest column.

Alumni from the University of Florida have created and guided some of the fastest-growing businesses in the world. The Alumni Association is proud to recognize these amazing business owners and entrepreneurs through the Gator100.

We proudly honor their achievements with a special awards event that creates opportunities to increase networks with current and past honorees, inspire fellow Gators in the pursuit of Going Greater, and receive visibility via national, local and industry media outlets. Nominate a company or apply now for this award. The deadline for applications is October 29th.