UF College of Medicine

10/19/2026

The hospital can be a scary and disruptive environment for pediatric patients and their families. The stress of long-term treatment for complex conditions like congenital heart issues can take a toll.

A new collaboration between the UF Health Congenital Heart Center and the UF Department of Psychiatry is addressing this challenge by bringing neurobehavioral health services and mental health support directly to patients and their families during a UF Health hospital stay.

“We want to reinforce that mental health is an important part of overall health,” said Jennifer Co-Vu, M.D., a professor at the Congenital Heart Center and the director of its fetal cardiac program and single ventricle program.

Learn more about the new initiative at https://news.drgator.ufl.edu/2026/10/08/hearts-and-minds/.

10/17/2026

Join us for UF College of Medicine AI Day next Friday, Oct. 23, from 7 a.m. to noon at the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida. All faculty, researchers, trainees and collaborators are invited to connect and discover the intersection of AI and health sciences. Learn more at https://ai.ufl.edu/ai-university/ai-days/college-day/.

10/17/2026

Congratulations to 26 Gators in the University of Florida M.D. Class of 2027 on being selected as the newest members of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society!

This distinguished recognition honors those who have demonstrated not only academic excellence but also integrity, compassion, leadership and a steadfast commitment to serving others.

We are so proud of these students and excited to celebrate their accomplishments, character and dedication to the future of medicine.

10/15/2026

Along with the UF College of Dentistry, we were selected to join the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities training program, earning a $2.3 million grant to improve diagnosis, care and outreach for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Learn more at https://mbi.ufl.edu/2026/10/14/uf-selected-for-federal-program-to-train-autism-specialists/.

The Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) at the University of Florida (UF) is a comprehensive and diverse neuroscience research center that houses the UF College of Medicine’s four “neuro” departments: neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry.

10/14/2026

To create and store energy, the human body processes sugar. But what happens when this process is disrupted?

First-year Ph.D. student Alison Ryan is part of a University of Florida College of Medicine research team investigating this disruption and its correlation with Alzheimer’s disease. Their work was recently published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42556344/.

“The brain produces waste containers made of sugar, called corpora amylacea. In this study, we found that Alzheimer’s patients have significantly more of these waste containers, especially in the hippocampus where memory is processed, with more present as the disease progresses,” Ryan said. “We also found clumps of stored sugar, called glycogen, that build up inside brain cells, growing larger with disease severity. These findings suggest the disruption of sugar metabolism is a key factor in Alzheimer’s disease, with the potential for use as an early warning sign and target for new therapeutics and diagnostics.”

Ryan, a double-Gator and UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumna from Tampa, Florida, is studying biomedical sciences in the lab of professor Ramon Sun, Ph.D.

“I’m excited about advancing neuroscience research,” she said. “My passion for medical science is driven by my desire to understand how the body fundamentally works and to use those insights to tackle neurodegenerative diseases.”

10/13/2026

Congratulations to Maryam Rahman, M.D., interim chair of the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine, on being honored as the 2026 Congress of Neurological Surgeons Educator of the Year!

Join us in celebrating Maryam Rahman as our Educator of the Year award recipient! This is an honor bestowed annually upon a CNS volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to education. Read more about her work: https://bit.ly/4iieOIy

UF Health
UF College of Medicine

10/13/2026

What does it mean to practice good medicine?

That question is at the heart of the University of Florida Hippocratic Society, a group bringing together medical students, residents and physicians to share meals and discuss the moral and professional formation that accompanies a life in medicine.

Members explore virtues such as courage, generosity, sincerity, wisdom, compassion and integrity, considering how these qualities shape clinical judgment, the physician-patient relationship and the ideal of the good physician.

These gatherings provide an opportunity to reflect and step outside the usual demands of medical training and clinical practice. All medical students, residents and physicians are invited to join the UF chapter.

To participate, please sign up for the email list at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSjlTLBn3ruYcOaqTW0oqzccFIfwPQbH97v0SMxQsP8vTGyA/viewform. Physicians interested in hosting a dinner discussion can complete the host form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSft_OTkxaa4bBanbm9_sfmFEWlEi9tfaNn-v4M6oHlruq_iiw/viewform.

10/12/2026

Thank you to the AAMC for highlighting our Mobile Food Pharmacy!

UF Mobile Food Pharmacy bus routes healthy food to patients

10/12/2026

Meet Isabella Tucker, a PA student and a talented cellist who is using her musical and medical training to pursue her dream of becoming an international PA.

“One of the main reasons I went into medicine is because I want to talk to people all day,” Tucker said. “It means being invited every day into lives that are completely different from your own.”

During her gap years, Tucker lived in Seattle, where she was the assistant principal cellist of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra and worked as a research scientist at UW and the Seattle VA Medical Center.

At UF, she is the recipient of the Lacy A. Douglas, PA-C, Scholarship, a financial support fund for students who enter the School of Physician Assistant Studies after having worked in another professional capacity or career. The scholarship honors the lifelong selflessness and compassion of the late Lacy Douglas, a PA alumnus from the Class of 1976.

“This scholarship is meant for students who had meaningful careers before PA school," Tucker said. "I’m very grateful for that support and intend to make the care I provide a strong return on the investment made in me.”

Learn more about Tucker and how scholarships support the next generation of Gator PAs at https://news.drgator.ufl.edu/2026/10/08/douglas-pa-scholarship-isabella-tucker/.

10/12/2026

Scholarships make a difference in the lives and education of the next generation of Gators.

As part of our challenge to create 75 new scholarships by our 75th anniversary in 2031, we are proud to announce that we've hit a milestone — 30 new scholarships for our M.D., PA and Ph.D. students!

Head to https://med.ufl.edu/alumni-affairs/development/scholarships/ to learn more and meet some of our scholarship recipients.