From many, one

First-year students at the UF College of Dentistry finished their orientation week with a day at UF’s Lake Wauburg, where they worked to complete the Team Challenge Course. Part of the tradition is that the students arrive in a shirt that represents their undergraduate institution and, once they’ve completed the challenge, they don a new shirt to show that they’ve become a unified class of Gator Dentists. — Karen Rhodenizer

UF Health launches effort to improve access to care for underserved Type 1 diabetes patients

UF Health researchers are working to improve access to care for underserved children and adults living with Type 1 diabetes. Using a $1.6 million grant from The Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the program will help primary care physicians in Florida and California attain greater expertise by addressing the racial, socioeconomic and geographic disparities that affect health outcomes for these patients. The program uses the Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes model, also known as Project ECHO. It is being implemented in Florida and California because those states have a large and diverse group of underserved patients. Among the participants are the UF Student Health Care Center, UF Health Family Medicine – Eastside and UF Health Family Medicine – Old Town. — Bill Levesque

Lem Purcell, chair of the Child Advocacy Center, left, joins Sherry Kitchens, president and CEO of the Child Advocacy Center; Stephanie Cox, assistant director of the UF Child Protection Team, and Scott Rivkees, M.D., chair of the UF College of Medicine’s department of pediatrics, at the public event marking the co-location of the two groups.

Two child advocacy groups now sharing space

The Child Advocacy Center of Gainesville has moved some of its operations to the home of the UF Child Protection Team in the UF Health Pediatrics – Gerold L. Schiebler CMS Center. Having the two groups under one roof makes it easier for children and their families to access services offered by both, rather than directing them between two offices, officials said. The CPT and CAC conduct forensic interviews of children and family members to determine if abuse or neglect has occurred. CPT offers medical exams using UF Health physicians, while CAC provides therapy services and victim advocacy. Frequently, children need the services of both  rganizationso. Until now, that meant referring them between CAC’s East University Avenue office and the CPT at 1699 SW 16th Ave. — Bill Levesque

UF receives grant to improve health outcomes in people affected by alcohol and HIV

The University of Florida has received a T32 award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to train
scientists to address problems related to alcohol and HIV. The program will be integrated with the Southern HIV Alcohol
Research Consortium, or SHARC. Over the course of the five-year award, the program will support four predoctoral and two
postdoctoral trainees each year. Trainees will receive interdisciplinary exposure and experience across various areas of research, including epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical and health psychology, nursing science, health education and behavior, and medicine.    — Anna Suggs Hoffman