Around UF Health happenings

Wellness for all

UF Health is hosting the Fourth Annual Wellness Event for all benefits-eligible employees April 27-May 15. To register for an event at a location near you, visit UFHealth.org/WellnessEvent. Pre-registered employees who attend and complete a personal health and biometrics assessment will receive a free lunch from SweetBerries eatery. Employees who received their flu shot and who do not use tobacco, or who have completed a smoking-cessation program, may receive an additional gift. Please contact the UF Health Shands Human Resources Benefits Office at 352-265-0043 with questions.

Pregnancy, together

The UF Health Women’s Center – Medical Plaza is now offering a model of group prenatal care at one of its women’s centers to help reduce the risk of premature birth. The UF Health Women’s Center – Medical Plaza will be designated as the first CenteringPregnancy site in North Florida by the Centering Healthcare Institute over the next year. Pregnant women who wish to participate in the CenteringPregnancy model are grouped by their due dates. After a standard visit to their provider, the women join a group during their fourth month of pregnancy and meet monthly for 1.5-hour sessions. During these sessions, the women receive all the components of individual prenatal care. The women and their provider also discuss birth and newborn care as well as overall health and stress management. Potential participants must select their provider from within the group of approved providers at UF Health Women’s Center and be less than four months pregnant. To participate, call 352-265-8200.

The science of addiction

The UF Center for Addiction Research and Education will hold its third annual symposium April 22 at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of UF. Two speakers will be featured at the event, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the DeWeese Auditorium, LG-101A. Linda Spear, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of psychology at Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York system, will give a presentation titled “What animal models tell us about the causes and consequences of adolescent alcohol use.” In addition, Lindsay Squeglia, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, will discuss “Teens, alcohol and brain development: Why it matters.” A poster session will also be held from 2-4 p.m. April 22 in the Founders’ Gallery.