University of Florida Health Researchers Find “Switch” That Lets Common, Cancer-Causing Virus Replicate

Many viruses are master manipulators, hijacking cellular functions to propagate, spread and avoid elimination by their hosts’ immune system. Now, University of Florida researcher Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh, M.D., Ph.D., has discovered how the common, cancer-causing Epstein-Barr virus does just that by using a complex of proteins to emerge from a dormant state and begin replicating. The […]

UF Health Researchers on Team Studying Possible Viral Link With Type 1 Diabetes

A prolonged infection by a common virus might sometimes trigger the immune system attack on the pancreas that ultimately leads to Type 1 diabetes. The finding from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young, or TEDDY, study was recently published in the journal Nature Medicine by a team of scientists that includes Desmond Schatz, […]

Robert Amdur, MD, Named Editor in Chief of Practical Radiation Oncology

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) announced that Robert Amdur, MD, will become the new Editor in Chief of Practical Radiation Oncology, ASTRO’s clinical practice journal. Dr. Amdur, a professor of radiation oncology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, will begin his five-year term on January 1, 2021. Dr. Amdur has been […]

Scientists Now Find Curcumin Is a Strong Inflammation-Fighting Weapon

While it is true that the human body can’t live without inflammation, it can’t also be denied that too much of it can be hazardous to health. Mansour Mohamadzadeh, Ph.D., director of the Center for Inflammation and Mucosal Immunology at the University of Florida, says that in a healthy situation, inflammation serves as a good friend […]

Drone Images Detect Two Tomato Diseases With 99% Accuracy

New technology being developed by University of Florida scientists identifies two dangerous tomato diseases with 99 percent accuracy. This finding is critical because diseases can cost growers millions of dollars annually in the state’s third most valuable crop. Thus, the earlier farmers detect those ailments, the better their chances of treating them before the diseases […]

Mitchell Team Receives National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Grant

Dr. Gordon Mitchell, a professor in the UF Department of Physical Therapy, and his team were recently awarded another grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute concerning how two important cell types in the spinal cord interact to regulate respiratory motor plasticity triggered by repetitive exposure to low oxygen. Over a four-year period, […]

MDA Awards Venture Philanthropy Funding of More Than $1M to AavantiBio to Develop Gene-Targeting Therapy for Friedreich’s Ataxia

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and UF Innovate | The Hub resident client AavantiBio, a biotechnology company developing a gene-targeting therapy for Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA), announced the award of MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) funding totaling $1,076,232 to advance AavantiBio’s phase 2 clinical trial of a gene-replacement therapy for the disease. MVP is MDA’s drug development […]

UF Researchers Develop Easy Tool to Predict Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke

A new assessment tool can predict users’ 10-year risk of heart attack or stroke with just a few patient-inputted responses, no lab tests required. Developed by University of Florida researchers, the EZ-CVD calculates a person’s risk score based on six questions on sex, age, current smoking status, diagnosis of diabetes or high blood pressure, and […]

New Imaging Study Shows Key Brain Changes in Aging, Alzheimer’s

A new collaborative study led by McKnight Brain Institute neuroscientists Sara Burke, Ph.D., and Marcelo Febo, Ph.D., gives insight into why brain networks become vulnerable in old age and in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The rodent-model study, published in the journal eNeuro, links micro-scale changes in individual brain cells to large-scale changes in […]