Hot to Trot
The annual open house at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine drew a huge crowd once again this year,
with an exhibition of the comprehensive treatment available for sick or injured horses. — Greg Hamilton
UF joins National Academy of Medicine collaboration to counter opioid crisis
The University of Florida has joined a consortium of more than 100 organizations across the U.S. brought together by the National Academy of Medicine that have declared a commitment to reversing the nation’s opioid crisis. Founded by the academy in 2018 with the Aspen Institute, the Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic is a public-private collaboration committed to “developing, curating and disseminating multisector solutions” designed to reduce opioid misuse and improve outcomes for individuals, families and communities. Linda Cottler, Ph.D., M.P.H., an epidemiology professor and associate dean for research in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions who has conducted substantial research on substance abuse, said up to 50 UF Health
researchers are already working on various aspects of addiction. — Bill Levesque
Nationwide research program All of Us marks first anniversary at UF Health
The Journey Bus, part of the nationwide All of Us initiative to get 1 million people into a databank of health records, visited UF Health. UF is part of the consortium that is leading the drive.
In May, UF Health marked one year of involvement in the nationwide National Institutes of Health-funded All of Us Research Program. All of Us aims to gather health data from at least 1 million people within five years and follow participants for a decade in order to advance precision medicine, personalized health care based on factors including where an individual lives, what they do and their family health history.
More than 25 medical institutions are involved in All of Us, and in May 2018, UF joined the SouthEast Enrollment Center, or SEEC, which includes the University of Miami, Emory University and Morehouse School of Medicine. The UF study team has been recruiting participants, including our own faculty,
residents, staff, students and volunteers as well as community members. The regional network aims to strengthen the program’s reach into diverse populations, including lowerincome, Hispanic and Latino, African American and rural communities. Participants are asked to complete surveys about their health, share their medical record information and contribute blood and urine sample that will be used for genetic analysis. SEEC has already contributed nearly 4,000 medical
records to the program. This information is stored for researchers to use to study different diseases, populations or trends over time. UF’s goal is to recruit 15,000 participants from around the state over the next five years. — Kim Rose
