UF Health Cancer Center
The UF Health Cancer Center stands alone in the state of Florida in its unique ability to blend comprehensive patient care and innovative research in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. It boasts a membership of more than 280 researchers and clinicians from across the University of Florida and UF Health. The UF Health Cancer Center’s clinical enterprise uses a comprehensive care model, with multidisciplinary cancer programs offering advanced treatment options, such as minimally invasive and robotic surgery, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy — as well as access to clinical trials that haveh limited availability elsewhere. The UF Health Cancer Center is a state-designated Center of Excellence, along with its partners, including the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville and the Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center.
UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute
The UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute speeds the movement of scientific discoveries into improved health in our communities and beyond. Translational research means moving the discoveries that scientists make in the laboratory to the bedside in the form of new drugs, devices and treatment options and ensuring that effective new approaches reach people who need them. The CTSI provides opportunities for people to participate in health research conducted at the university through clinical research studies, programs such as UF HealthStreet and initiatives such as the Citizen Scientist program. Researchers need volunteers to participate in studies, some of which end early because of a shortage of participants. The institute helps connect people with research opportunities in Gainesville and beyond. Anyone wishing to become involved in such research can visit ctsi.ufl.edu/community or ufhealth.org/research-studies-clinical-trials.
UF Diabetes Institute
The UF Diabetes Institute was founded in 2015 with a commitment to advance patient care and ultimately find a cure through pioneering research, innovative treatment and education. The institute serves as the umbrella organization under which research, treatment, education and outreach are coordinated at UF and UF Health. Researchers and physicians affiliated with the UF Diabetes Institute are working to prevent, diagnose and treat diabetes in a wide array of areas, including immunology, genetics, endocrinology, metabolism, pediatrics and social sciences. Researchers are asking questions to advance knowledge and understanding of diabetes through collaboration. UF’s Type 1 diabetes research program has proved that passion for discovery and clinical innovation leads to new research paradigms and improved patient care. The UF Diabetes Institute is internationally recognized for its efforts in diabetes care and research, and houses a model for statewide diabetes education through collaboration with UF/IFAS Extension in all 67 Florida counties.
UF Emerging Pathogens Institute
Florida’s unique geography and climate require novel disease prevention and control strategies. Florida’s residents and industries, especially agriculture and tourism, are threatened by new diseases, such as Zika virus, dengue fever, H1N1 swine flu and citrus greening. The UF Emerging Pathogens Institute was created in 2006 to provide a world-class research environment to facilitate interdisciplinary studies of emergence and control of human, animal and plant pathogens of concern to Florida, the nation and the world. The EPI’s goals are to understand the genetic changes (and evolutionary drivers) that lead to the emergence of new pathogens; to appreciate the complex interaction of environmental and host factors that permit these pathogens to spread within plant, animal and human populations; to train the next generation of investigators in emerging diseases, within a unique, interdisciplinary setting; and to disseminate information about emerging pathogens, and their control, to the people of Florida.
Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida
The Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute is one of the nation’s most comprehensive and diverse neuroscience research centers. More than 200 faculty members across 16 UF colleges and 50 academic departments are devoted to discovering how the normal brain operates and how we can repair the brain amid injury, disease and aging. Collectively, the MBI’s investigators hope their research and educational efforts will advance brain aging research and make a difference for those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, brain tumors, neurovascular disorders, neuromuscular disease, and addictive and psychiatric disorders. Led by director Todd Golde, M.D., Ph.D., the MBI’s investigators strive to help change the understanding of many neurological disorders from untreatable to treatable, incurable to curable and inevitable to preventable.
UF Genetics Institute
The UF Genetics Institute is a biomedical research center that promotes collaborative and multidisciplinary research using the tools of genetics and genomics. Formed in 1999, the UF Genetics Institute involves more than 220 faculty members representing nine colleges and 51 academic departments. Their research includes fields such as human genetics, bioinformatics, agricultural and plant biology, and evolutionary biology. They also study relevant and pressing issues such as the impact of climate change, health-related genetic mutations and feeding an expanding global population.
UF Institute on Aging
The UF Institute on Aging, formed in 2005, builds relationships among researchers who study aging in different fields. In addition to providing primary care on the UF campus and at UF Health Springhill as well as care at the retirement community Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, the institute is also changing the way older adults receive care at UF Health Shands Hospital. Geriatricians are embedded in the hospital’s trauma unit and the general hospital unit. They meet with older patients to help design health care around their unique needs and the diverse medical conditions they may have. The institute also focuses on the prevention of injury and illness in older adults. Other recent research endeavors include studying methods to help these patients better manage pain, preserve cognitive abilities and maintain mobility. The institute also supports a varied educational mission to train the next generation of gerontologists and geriatricians, from online graduate programs to geriatric fellowships to a robust Junior Scholars program promoting the careers of young scientists.
UF Institute for Child Health Policy
From adolescent obesity to the Zika virus, the UF Institute for Child Health Policy brings together many of UF’s best and brightest minds to tackle some of the most challenging child health issues of our time.
The institute uses big data analytics and innovative study designs to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our research. Researchers routinely engage with individuals, families and other stakeholders to develop practical health interventions that are more likely to be implemented by providers and adopted by patients, which leads to better outcomes. They also work to improve the systems that deliver health care and empower communities and families to prevent problems before they start.
Current research focuses on preventing and treating childhood obesity, helping pregnant women and children affected by the opioid crisis, improving human papillomavirus vaccination rates, and evaluating health care access and quality for millions of children enrolled in Medicaid. Researchers have a special interest in understanding how social stressors, such as food insecurity and neighborhood safety, affect children’s health, and in identifying and reducing health disparities.
By working across disciplines and using pioneering research methods, members of the institute strive to promote the lifelong health of children, adolescents and young adults in Florida and nationwide.
Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health
The Normal Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health boasts some of the world’s leading researchers and clinicians working to advance scientific discoveries that lead to breakthroughs in treatment options for patients battling movement disorders such as Parkinson’s, dystonia and ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease); dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body disease; and concussions and traumatic brain injuries. The team provides leading-edge treatments, such as deep brain stimulation and gene therapy, that are transforming patient care. The Fixel Institute is a cornerstone of the university’s aspiration to help create history’s healthiest generation through precision health, the elimination of health disparities and the advancements of therapies related to the brain and neuromuscular and mental health.