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New infrastructure and grants program encourages collaboration for artificial intelligence and quality improvement |
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With UF welcoming HiPerGator, one of the fastest artificial intelligence supercomputers in American higher education, and hiring 100 new faculty with experience in the methodology and application of AI tools over the last two years, the renewed energy sparked innovation around how to leverage AI across the health care landscape. As AI continues to become a centerpiece of research endeavors at UF, a team of clinicians, analysts and patient safety experts at the College of Medicine are developing an AI-enabled infrastructure for quality improvement analytics and patient safety at UF Health.
The Office of the Dean provided funding to establish a grants program, Rapid AI Prototyping and Development for Patient Safety, or RAPiDS, an initiative under the value pillar of the college’s strategic plan that functions as the mechanism for developing, testing and advancing innovative AI quality improvement efforts, promoting faculty career development and stimulating external funding.
The first RAPiDS grant cycle, which launched in August, brought teams across UF Health and the College of Medicine together to test a secure data and computing resource remotely accessible by authorized clinical and research teams. The resource, called ALPS — AI Labs for Patient Safety — aims to create an integrated infrastructure and safe space for sensitive analytics, becoming a common place where data coexists in the same spot as a computer capable of handling the data. The ultimate goal of both initiatives is to bring those with clinical expertise and those with data analytics, statistics and technical expertise together to analyze data using AI to improve outcomes.
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Department spotlight: Department of emergency medicine and collaborators use innovative method to improve cardiac arrest outcomes |
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When a patient’s heart stops, it’s a race against the clock for medical teams to get it pumping again, with every second that passes increasing the chance of permanent damage to the brain and other organs.
Collaborators at UF Health Shands Hospital, including nursing teams, specialists and health providers in the departments of emergency medicine, surgery and anesthesiology at the College of Medicine, will soon officially roll out a new method of addressing cardiac arrest that has already proved to significantly improve the chances of patient revival and full recovery.
“As we keep pushing the needle on bystander CPR aid, every percentage point gained means another person gets a chance to become a candidate for this ECPR therapy and another opportunity to return home to their loved ones,” said Torben K. Becker, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the division of critical care and director of the department of emergency medicine’s global health section.
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This geneticist’s goal: Cure the disease that runs in his family |
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In 2006, specialists around the country started getting emails from a recent Harvard grad named Eric Wang asking about myotonic dystrophy, an inherited disease that runs in his family.
It wasn’t unusual for them to hear from loved ones of patients hoping for a breakthrough, but this was different. Wang had one question: What do you need to know to find a cure?
His plan: devote his career to filling in the gaps, developing treatments for his dad and millions of others worldwide.
“It’s not common for a talented young person to declare a serious intent to work on myotonic dystrophy,” says Charles Thornton, a neurologist at the University of Rochester who received the email. “In the case of Eric Wang, I am very grateful that he decided to go in this direction.”
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT |
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Alumna develops sight-saving gene therapies by day and tasty recipes by night |
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When she’s not studying gene therapies for inherited blindness as a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University, Miranda Scalabrino, PhD ’16, can be found running Oak City Amaretto with her husband, pouring their liqueur, based on his grandmother’s recipe, into sweet treats like lemon bars. |
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COLLEGE ROUNDUP |
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UF researcher co-leading landmark study on autism’s role in aging |
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Brandon Zielinski, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues are launching one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of what happens to autistic adults as they grow older. The work is supported by a five-year, $10 million National Institutes of Health-funded Autism Center of Excellence award. |
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Celebration of Research: Call for art submissions |
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The College of Medicine Office of Research is excited to showcase works of art during the 2023 Celebration of Research to be held Feb. 27-28. The theme is Research as Art. |
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View strategic plan initiatives dashboard |
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Track progress of initiatives under the strategic plan’s seven pillars. |
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A conversation with Tammy Williams, M.H.A.
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In 2021, Tammy Williams, M.H.A., was named the chief operating officer for the UF College of Medicine. Williams caught up with Dr. Gator to discuss her career, vision for the college and life outside of work.
Williams received her master’s degree in health administration from the University of Central Florida and has 20 years of experience in the health care finance field, including more than 15 years at UF Health. She has been responsible for the development of a $1 billion annual operating budget in collaboration with College of Medicine departments, the dean’s office and five research centers.
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Daniel J. Hoh, M.D., FAANS, named assistant dean of revenue cycle management
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Daniel J. Hoh, M.D., FAANS, has been appointed assistant dean of revenue cycle management for the UF College of Medicine, effective in January.
In this new role, Hoh will contribute to the management, generation and collection of patient service revenue to advance the key priorities of the college. He will focus on optimizing revenue streams and will serve as a liaison between the revenue cycle and the clinical side, evaluating key data analytics to identify opportunities for improved performance.
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'Investing in those who invest in themselves'
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When deciding where to attend college, Tampa native Scott Sumner, M.B.A., only applied to one school: the University of Florida. As a third-generation Floridian, he knew it was the only institution for him. He wanted to be a businessman, he decided. UF was the place that could make that happen.
Now, as chief financial officer of the UF College of Medicine, Sumner leverages his broad knowledge of the clinical, financial and operational aspects of health care systems to strengthen the college’s finance and administration functions. He’s invested in this work in part because of how much the institution has invested in him.
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Dean’s Office | Medical Science Building |
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(352) 273-7500 |
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COMDean-Koch@ufl.edu |
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