Ronald Shorr, professor of aging and geriatric research at UF, and director of the Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center.

Nancy Denslow Ph.D., a professor of toxicology at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine

Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Ph.D., chief of the biology of aging division at UF's College of Medicine and a member of the Institute on Aging and Jinze Xu, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Leeuwenburgh's group.

Tracey Barnett, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of behavioral science and community health

Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, a second-year zoological medicine resident at the University of Florida's Veterinary Medical Center, holds an 8-month-old giraffe named Geoffrey on Nov. 5 while veterinary technician Sarah Purcell, right, feeds him a bottle. Geoffrey is recuperating from arthroscopic surgery performed on his right front hock earlier this week. He is expected to return home to Miami with his owners on Monday.

Geoffrey, an 8-month-old giraffe owned by the Barton G. company of Miami, nuzzles University of Florida veterinary technician Sarah Purcell on Nov. 5, 2009, at UF's Veterinary Medical Center after a bottle feeding. Geoffrey is recuperating from arthroscopic surgery performed earlier this week on his right front hock. UF veterinarians hope to release him to his owners on Monday.

Geoffrey, an 8-month-old giraffe, licks his lips after his feeding on Nov. 5. Junior veterinary student Nikki Helmers and zoological medicine veterinary technician Sarah Purcell attend to Geoffrey while he recuperates from surgery on his right front hock performed earlier this week at the University of Florida's Veterinary Medical Center. UF veterinarians plan to release Geoffrey to his owner, the Barton G. company of Miami, on Monday.

Rowan J. Milner, B.V.Sc., an associate professor of oncology at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, recently was appointed associate chief of staff of UF’s small animal hospital.

Michael G. Perri, Ph.D., has been named dean of the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, effective Nov. 6.

A front view of the new Toshiba Titan MR unit recently installed at the UF Veterinary Medical Center

Judy Mikovits, Ph.D.

Marco Pahor, M.D., director of the UF Institute on Aging

Photo by: Sarah Kiewel, University of Florida
News Release: University of Florida seeking older males for national testosterone therapy trial

Cardiology resident Dr. Mandi Schmidt, left, and veterinary student Heather Rogers, right, with Anne Liebermann and Tucker in the small animal clinic in September.                                      

Photo courtesy of Dr. Mandi Schmidt)
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Heather K. Vincent, assistant professor in the UF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute

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News Release: Phytochemicals in plant-based foods could help battle obesity, disease

UF anesthesiologist Mark J. Rice, M.D., and radiologist Lori Deitte, M.D., were among a team of researchers who confirmed the effectiveness of a longstanding medical procedure used when anesthesia is administered to patients. The procedure, known as Sellick’s maneuver, has come under fire by critics in recent years, but UF scientists have used magnetic resonance imaging to show that it works and that doubts about its effectiveness are based on a misunderstanding of what physical changes happen in the neck during the procedure.

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News Release: UF scientists discover new explanation for controversial old patient-care technique

Dr. Joseph Adrian Tyndall, chairman of emergency medicine, shares his expertise during an open house. Shands Critical Care Center at UF is located in the medical tower and combines an emergency department and Level I trauma center.

Photo by: Sarah Kiewel, University of Florida
News Release: New hospital's therapeutic design supports healing, green practices

The new Shands Cancer Hospital at UF helps meet the growing needs of cancer patients, advances UF and Shands HealthCare’s ability to treat emergency and critical care patients, and ensures a long-term commitment to the region’s health-care needs, according to Dr. David S. Guzick, UF senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. In addition to Guzick (standing), Shands HealthCare CEO Timothy Goldfarb (from left), College of the Medicine interim dean Dr. Michael Good and Brad Pollitt, Shands HealthCare vice president for facilities, talked about the new facility at a press conference on Tuesday.

Photo by: Sarah Kiewel, University of Florida
News Release: New hospital's therapeutic design supports healing, green practices

Music is performed by Shands Arts in Medicine players in the Andy and Toni Crawford Lobby at the Shands Cancer Hospital during an employee open house this week.

Photo by: Sarah Kiewel, University of Florida
News Release: New hospital's therapeutic design supports healing, green practices

UF is one of seven institutions part of a $12.2 million grant to establish a national network of scientists. UF collaborators include (from left) Chris Barnes, Valrie Davis, Wallace McLendon, Judith Russell, principal investigator Michael Conlon, Sara Russell Gonzalez and Narayan Raum.

Photo by: Priscilla Santos, University of Florida
News Release: UF receives $12.2 million to establish national network of scientists

Dr. Paul Okunieff will become the new UF Shands Cancer Center director on Dec. 1.

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Emina Huang, M.D., a UF colorectal surgeon

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Tom Munyer, M.S., APhA-ASP student adviser and a clinical associate professor in the UF College of Pharmacy, accompanies pharmacy students (from left) Sebrina Chan, Megan Kloet and Crystal Mason, who met Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan at Gainesville City Hall in preparation for her visit to the college to proclaim October as American Pharmacists Month.

Photo by: Sarah Kiewel, University of Florida
News Release: Media Alert

The gradient of colors indicate the estimated travel time to the nearest city with a population of more than 500,000, with yellow at one extreme indicating short travel times and red at the other extreme indicating long travel times. The graphic explains accessibility factors affecting the spread of HIV from central to east Africa. The virus was circulating at stable levels in the urban centers of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but these centers were isolated. Once the virus reached east Africa, connectivity between population centers combined with better quality transportation networks and higher rates of human movement caused HIV to spread exponentially.

Graphic provided by Andrew J. Tatem/University of Florida
News Release: Scientists join forces to explain HIV spread in Central and East Africa

An international team of researchers led by scientists at the University of Florida used genetic and geographic data to determine why HIV remained at stable levels in central Africa for about 20 years before exploding as an epidemic in east central Africa in the 1970s. By unraveling the forces that drive epidemics, medical professionals will be better able to deal with future outbreaks, according to Marco Salemi (center), an assistant professor in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine and member of the UF Genetics Institute; Rebecca Gray, a postdoctoral associate, and with Andrew Tatem, an assistant professor of geography and member of the Emerging Pathogens Institute.

Larry Seymour is shown with his two basset hounds, Margarita, in front, andher companion, Mariah, at home in Gainesville after Margarita’s recuperation from snake bite wounds.

The first University of Florida-Food and Drug Administration graduate scholarship students in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy met with faculty recently during the UF College of Pharmacy program orientation. Students (from right) Matthew Kirchoff, Evan Wearne, Jonas Santiago and Danielle Smith, as well as James Trinidad, who is not visible in the photo, are officers in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

A new study combines physical activity with interactive video games to examine pain levels of women with knee osteoarthritis. Peggy Smith, recruitment coordinator for the Aging and Rehabilitation Research Center at the University of Florida, tries out the bike as Rida Laeeq, student volunteer research assistant, watches.

Darryl Heard, B.V.M.S.,Ph.D., (left) an associate professor in the UF College of Veterinary Medicine's department of small animal clinical sciences, anesthetizes a cottonmouth snake in preparation for venom extraction on Sept. 9, 2009. Heard and Ryan McCleary, a Ph.D. candidate in biology in UF's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, have collaborated to develop a safe, reliable and humane technique for collecting venom from cottonmouths - an essential part of the process of making antidotes for snake-bite victims.

Dr. Kristin Kirkby, director of the University of Florida’s Small Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness Center, holds Zozo during one of her visits to the UF Veterinary Medical Center.

Kristin Kirkby, D.V.M., a board-certified small animal surgeon who is pursuing her Ph.D. in veterinary rehabilitation.

Wilmer Nichols, the director of basic cardiovascular research at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine from 1976 to 2002 and now an adjunct professor of medicine.

On the eve of the new year 2009, Bill Hahn (left) received a kidney-pancreas transplant with help from members of the Renal Transplant Program at Shands at the University of Florida medical center. This week he and fellow surfer and transplant recipient Richard Salik are preparing for the 24th annual National Kidney Foundation Surf Festival, slated for Sept. 3 to Sept. 7 at Cocoa Beach.

The International Space Station photographed following separation from the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2001. The 70mm frame was exposed by one of the STS-100 crew members onboard the shuttle.

Christopher R. Cogle, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology

Ellis Greiner, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of infectious diseases and pathology

Dr. Ellis Greiner, center, is shown with Dr. Andrew Peregrine, left, chairman of the AAVP Awards Committee, and Dr. Doug Carithers of Merial Veterinary Services.

Anthony A. Bavry, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine

Informatics specialists from the University of Florida Clinical and Translational Research Informatics Program in the College of Medicine developed a new Web site for Florida’s Governor’s Fitness Challenge. The new Web site is geared toward getting more children involved in the program, which aims to increase physical activity in kids.

Lynne Kimball-Davis of Wellington rides her Dutch warmblood, Upper Class. The horse was successfully treated last fall at UF’s Veterinary Medical Center for a vascular infection.

Dr. Colin Burrows, chairman of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of small animal clinical sciences, is shown with Jill Nute, then-president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, in July during the RCVS’s annual meeting in London.

Brent Reynolds, Ph.D., a regenerative medicine scientist at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida

Maria B. Grant, M.D., a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at UF’s College of Medicine

Dr. Matt Winter (from left), Dean Glen Hoffsis, Art Gaines, UF President Bernie Machen, Chris Machen, Jessica Steinbrenner, Felix Lopez, Kevin Adler and Jim Scott visited the newly dedicated Steinbrenner Family CT Imaging Suite June 19 at the UF Veterinary Medical Center.

Michael Schaer, D.V.M., a professor of small animal medicine at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Peter W. Stacpoole

Dr. Peter W. Stacpoole visits with two research study participants, Nicolas Cimmino, 14, left, and Gregory Cimmino, 16. The brothers have been involved for the past 10 years in a UF study of an investigational drug developed at UF for the treatment of genetic mitochondrial diseases.

Dr. Peter W. Stacpoole visits with two research study participants, Nicolas Cimmino, 14, center, and Gregory Cimmino, 16, along with research nurse coordinator Bonnie Coats and premed students Alex Cruz and Jack Bullock. The brothers have been involved for the past 10 years in a UF study of an investigational drug developed at UF for the treatment of genetic mitochondrial diseases.

The University of Florida’s Springhill psychiatry building will allow faculty physicians to provide child and adolescent psychiatry, adult psychiatry, addiction medicine, chronic pain and forensic services, as well as an eating disorder program. In addition, addiction faculty will see patients of the Florida Recovery Center, one of the largest and best known treatment centers for alcoholics and addicts in the South.

Pictured from left to right are the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients: Dr. Julio Ibanez, Dr. Louis Archbald, Dr. Jerome Modell and Dr. Dale Kaplan-Stein. Ibanez and Kaplan-Stein received the Alumni Achievement Award; Archbald received the Distinguished Service Award and Modell received the Special Service Award. Not pictured is Dr. Tonya Clauss, recipient of the Young Alumni Award.

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News Release: UF Veterinary College names 2009 Distinguished Award Winners

Amy Stone, D.V.M., Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor in the department of small animal clinical sciences

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News Release: Small animal medicine professor named teacher of the year

Lisa Merlo, Ph.D.,  an assistant professor of psychiatry

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News Release: Wrong type of help from parents could worsen child's OCD

Jesse Schold,  an assistant professor of medicine

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News Release: Older kidney transplant patients should more often consider live donors

Michael Ross, Ph.D., former chairman of the University of Florida College of Medicine’s department of anatomy and cell biology

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News Release: Former College of Medicine anatomy department chairman dies

Bradley S. Fletcher, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pharmacology and therapeutics in the College of Medicine

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News Release: Gene therapy technique thwarts cancer by cutting off tumor blood supply

Stephen Grobmyer, M.D., an assistant professor of surgical oncology and endocrine surgery at the UF College of Medicine

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News Release: Breast MRI shows it's not the size of the lymph node that signals spread of cancer

University of Florida scientists, including David Borchelt and Mercedes Prudencio, have discovered why a paralyzing brain disorder speeds along more rapidly in some patients than others — a finding that may finally give researchers an entry point toward an effective treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

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News Release: Fatal brain disease at work well before symptoms appear

Carrie McGirr, R.N., holds her hands, containing sanitizer gel, under a sensor before cleaning them, activating a green light on the badge she is wearing. Richard Melker, M.D., Ph.D., a UF College of Medicine professor of anesthesiology and chief technology officer of Xhale Inc., has developed new technology to track hand washing and improve hygiene among health-care professionals.

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News Release: Soap-sniffing technology encourages hand washing to reduce infections, save money

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News Release: New campaign encourages women with disabilities to get breast cancer screenings

Cathryn Mah, Ph.D., a member of the Powell Gene Therapy Center and UF Genetics Institute, a UF assistant professor of pediatric cellular and molecular therapy and a co-investigator on the study.

Photo by: Sarah Kiewel, Staff Photographer
News Release: UF makes gene therapy breakthrough in treating severe genetic disorder

Dr. David S. Guzick has been named the University of Florida’s senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System.

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News Release: University of Rochester School of Medicine dean chosen for UF post

Marco Salemi, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine at the UF College of Medicine.

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News Release: Research suggests new cellular targets for HIV drug development
Additional News Release: UF biologists join world experts in experiment to explore flu origins

UF researchers to probe evolution of HIV-related dementia

Dr. Barry Byrne, director of the Powell Gene Therapy Center at the University of Florida, led a research team that discovered a previously unknown “brain” connection in what has always been thought of as a “muscle” disease. The finding may lead to an effective treatment for Pompe disease, a genetic disorder that claims the lives of most children who have it before they reach age 2.

Child psychiatrist Kimberly White, M.D., talks about organizing the children’s area, complete with games and toys, at the new UF psychiatry clinic at Springhill.

Daniel Logan, M.D., an assistant professor of addiction medicine, talks about features of the new UF psychiatry facility at Springhill with Marika Brigham (center), associate director of psychiatry, and psychiatry administrator Terry Moore. Call 352-265-5404 for more information about psychiatry programs.

Dr. David Barber (left) a UF toxicologist, is shown with UF College of Veterinary Medicine Racing Lab scientific manager David Hall and the lab’s director, Dr. Richard Sams. Barber was able to verify life-threatening levels of selenium in blood and liver samples from several of the horses that died suddenly in Wellington just prior to a tournament on April 19. Selenium was determined to be the probable cause of death. The UF College of Veterinary Medicine Racing Lab meanwhile had performed screening tests on samples from the animals to rule out the presence of any performance-enhancing drugs in the horses’ systems. (Photo by Sarah Carey)

Bryon Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at the University of Florida

Richard Sams., Ph.D.

Sheilah Robertson., Ph.D.

Julie Levy, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Barry Byrne, M.D., Ph.D.

Gulfstream Park charity committee members and University of Florida veterinary students pose at the racetrack March 28 to mark the naming of the Gulfstream Barbaro Award recipients. The scholarships help students pursue careers in equine medicine and surgery and further equine research. Participating were (from left) committee member Kas Willis, veterinary student Erica Rosen, jockey Kent Desormeaux, veterinary student Megan Lamb, committee member Jan Hansen, graduate student Astrid Grosche, and committee members Jeff Humke and Shirley Horn.

Stephanie A. S. Staras, Ph.D., a UF assistant professor of epidemiology and health policy research in the UF College of Medicine

Martin Cohn, a University of Florida scientist whose interest in embryonic development and evolution led him to discover the molecular building blocks that shape limb and skeletal development, was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist today (March 26. 2009).

The University of Florida College of Dentistry will dedicate the Naples Children and Education Foundation Pediatric Dental Center at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 29, on the Collier County Campus of Edison State College in Naples.

Ron Mandel, a professor of neuroscience at UF's McKnight Brain Institute and the Powell Gene Therapy Center

Caprice Knapp, Ph.D., an assistant research professor of epidemiology and health policy research in the College of Medicine

University of Florida doctors perform a deep brain stimulation procedure. DBS was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for patient use in 2002. It involves mapping the brain and strategically implanting small electrodes. Eventually, with additional operations, the electrodes are connected to a small, battery-powered unit implanted in the patient’s shoulder area that provides electrical stimulation. The stimulation alters brain activity without destroying brain tissue, thereby combating symptoms of disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

University of Florida surgeons today were the first in the state to implant an electronic breathing device in a ventilator-dependent, spinal cord-injured patient. The lightweight, battery-powered diaphragm pacing system was approved by the FDA last year and is designed to help spinal cord-injured patients breathe without external assistance.
UF trauma medical director Lawrence Lottenberg, M.D., and neurosurgeon R. Patrick Jacob, M.D., were assisted by surgeon Raymond Onders, M.D., from University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Ohio. Onders pioneered and used the then-experimental device in Christopher Reeve’s 2003 procedure.

University of Florida surgeons today were the first in the state to implant an electronic breathing device in a ventilator-dependent, spinal cord-injured patient. The lightweight, battery-powered diaphragm pacing system was approved by the FDA last year and is designed to help spinal cord-injured patients breathe without external assistance.
UF trauma medical director Lawrence Lottenberg, M.D. (center) and neurosurgeon R. Patrick Jacob, M.D., were assisted by surgeon Raymond Onders, M.D. (left), from University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Ohio. Onders pioneered and used the then-experimental device in Christopher Reeve’s 2003 procedure.

University of Florida surgeons today were the first in the state to implant an electronic breathing device in a ventilator-dependent, spinal cord-injured patient. The lightweight, battery-powered diaphragm pacing system was approved by the FDA last year and is designed to help spinal cord-injured patients breathe without external assistance. UF trauma medical director Lawrence Lottenberg, M.D. (center), and neurosurgeon R. Patrick Jacob, M.D. (right), were assisted by surgeon Raymond Onders, M.D., from University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Ohio. Onders pioneered and used the then-experimental device in Christopher Reeve’s 2003 procedure.

Jesse Schold, Ph.D., of UF’s College of Medicine

Julie A. Johnson, professor of medicine at UF’s colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine and director of the UF Center for Pharmacogenomics

Nancy Mendenhall, M.D., an oncologist with UF’s College of Medicine

Dr. Amanda House, a veterinarian with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, gets face to face with a horse in the foal unit in 2008.

UF’s equine neonatal intensive care unit offers state-of-the-art care to foals suffering from a variety of ailments.

M. Brent Seagle, M.D., an associate professor and chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine, is now head of the Florida Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association.

Lucia Notterpek, Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the department of neuroscience at the University of Florida College of Medicine

How hammerhead ribozymes shut down herpes virus production
“Hammerhead ribozymes are RNA molecules that can recognize and cleave specific viral mRNA molecules. The ribozymes itself is unchanged and can repeat the reaction with another mRNA. Once the targeted mRNA has been cut, cellular enzymes will digest it completely so that no viral protein is produced.”

How herpes simplex virus causes blindness
“Herpes simplex viruses infect epithelial cells of the cornea (1&2) but move to the sensory neurons (3) where they may become inactive (latent) for many years (4).  They may also remain latent in the cornea itself (2a).  Upon stress, the herpes virus can reactivate (5), move back to the surface of the eye (6) and cause a new active outbreak (7).  Repeated reactivation can lead to corneal scarring and blindness.”

University of Florida researchers Alfred Lewin, a molecular geneticist, David Bloom, a virologist, and Sonal Tuli, an ophthalmologist, have teamed up to investigate a potential new therapy to prevent the recurrence of herpes.

Jay Levy, M.D., (left) one of the discoverers of HIV, speaking with University of Florida professor John Dame. Levy said the university can play a role in addressing the AIDS crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dr. Jay A. Levy is director of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research at University of California, San Francisco

Joachim S. “Nik” Gravenstein, M.D.

Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., forensic toxicologist and director of the William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine at UF

Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and health policy research at the UF College of Medicine.

Dr. R. Stan Williams, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Hamilton O. Smith, M.D., will talk about efforts at the J. Craig Venter Institute to create a living bacterial cell based entirely on the synthetically made genome.

Elizabeth Warner, M.D., currently in her second year of research as part of her surgical residency training

Robert Winfield, M.D., a third-year clinical resident

Travis C. Jackson, (left) a graduate student of neuroscience working with Thomas C. Foster, Ph.D., the Evelyn F. McKnight chair for research on aging and memory at the University of Florida, may have pinpointed why some brain cells necessary for healthy memory can survive old age or disease, while similar cells hardly a millimeter away die. The finding could help scientists understand and find solutions for age-related memory loss.

The photo is an architect’s rendering of the UF’s new small animal hospital, officially known as the Veterinary Research & Education Center.

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News Release: Groundbreaking ceremony held for UF's new small animal hospital