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News Brief

UF Working To Expand Your Options for Decorative Holiday Plants

University of Florida scientists want to add caladiums, known for their beautiful foliage, as an option for seasonal occasions. Bob Hartman, who runs Classic Caladiums LLC, a nursery in Avon Park, is enlisting the help of UF/IFAS plant breeder Zhanao Deng to research caladium bulb storage.

UF Opens Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology

The University of Florida Friday held a celebratory ribbon cutting for the Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology. The new building is named after UF alumnus and NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky, and funded by a combination of state funds as well as private and college funds.

Making an Impact on Movement Disorders

AI applications for improving treatment for patients with movement disorders includes work by assistant professor Coralie de Hemptinne, PhD, MS, and biomedical scientist Jackson Cagle, PhD, researchers at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health who have developed an algorithm to optimize deep brain stimulation, or DBS, a treatment that involves placing a thin wire in the brain in areas that control movement. Their technology, which received UF Innovate’s 2022 Invention of the Year award, predicts the best stimulation settings based on individual brain activity, shortening the wait to see improvement in symptoms.

Breaking Down the Threat of Ransomware Attacks

Kevin Butler, a University Term Professor in UF’s Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, breaks down the potential threats from ransomware attacks and how researchers from the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research developed some of the first solutions for protecting against this threat and continue to work on solutions as the attacks become more advanced.

UF Hopes To Speed Solutions to Citrus Greening, Other Crop Diseases With New Center

University of Florida scientists plan to utilize $2 million from an initiative by UF President Ben Sasse for a Crop Transformation Center to help Florida farmers improve production of citrus and specialty crops. For now, front and center among goals for the center is to find citrus varieties that can tolerate or even resist citrus greening disease, also known as Huanlongbing (HLB). Growers are looking for solutions to the disease, which has caused a 70 percent to 80 percent reduction in production to Florida’s signature crop.

UF Part of Multi-Institutional, $22M Cereal Crops Project Funded by USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development announced the creation of the Feed the Future Climate Resilient Cereals Innovation Lab, or CRCIL, to improve lives around the world by making cereal crops more readily available to those most at risk for hunger and malnutrition. University of Florida researchers involved will focus on sorghum. Charlie Messina, UF/IFAS horticultural sciences professor — who is a leading expert in applying artificial intelligence to crop modeling and simulation techniques — will head the efforts from the Gainesville campus while utilizing the supercomputing powers of the UF HiPerGator.

Clinical Spotlight: UF Health Aortic Disease Center Celebrates Five Years

As of 2023, the team at UF Health's Aortic Disease Center has surpassed their 2018 goals of increasing case volume, broadening research, and improving the quality of treatment for patients. Led by Tom Martin, M.D., the center is also leveraging AI to improve the future of health care and put patients first.

Fang Receives Distinguished Recognition By Rising Stars (Engineering) From the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida

Dr. Ruogu Fang has achieved the distinguished recognition of Rising Stars (Engineering) and will be honored at the forthcoming annual meeting of the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL). The ASEMFL is an esteemed gathering of Florida’s preeminent scholars, encompassing individuals who both reside and work in the state. Situated at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, ASEMFL is a non-profit organization that unites top-tier scholars and researchers hailing from various universities, public agencies, and industries throughout Florida. Their collective mission is to delve into critical issues at the intersection of science, engineering, and medicine that have a direct impact on the people of Florida. Furthermore, they provide impartial and expert advice concerning these matters.