For the first time, University of Florida faculty surpassed $1 billion in research spending in 2022, developing treatments for diseases, new agricultural products, engineering solutions and countless other advancements. With $1.076 billion in research expenditures, UF joins an exclusive group of about 15 public universities around the country to surpass this mark.

Almost half of the research occurred in the six colleges of UF Health, led by the College of Medicine in Gainesville and Jacksonville with $347 million. UF Health has major research thrusts in cancer, diabetes, neurological diseases, gene therapy and many other areas, where scientists and doctors work together to develop new treatments and therapies for patients from Florida and beyond.

Under the direction of Charles E. Wood, Ph.D., chair of the department of physiology and functional genomics and interim chair of the department of aging and geriatric research, the college has combined the departments’ expertise to create a new integrated academic unit: the department of physiology and aging. The merger, completed with input from faculty in both disciplines, will consolidate the educational programs and research endeavors under one umbrella. 

The newly formed department of physiology and aging, home to 26 faculty members, is poised to enhance collaboration, with experts working side by side to conduct bench-to-bedside research examining all life phases of the human body.

Like football, health care is a team sport where groups of physicians, residents, physician assistants, nurses and therapists collaborate to provide the best care possible for patients. A new program being piloted as part of the College of Medicine’s strategic plan is leveraging these interprofessional relationships to improve patient outcomes in Gainesville and beyond.

The Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program, or CUSP, originally developed by Johns Hopkins patient safety researchers, aims to improve the culture of patient safety while providing health teams the tools and support they need to address patient-safety hazards. College of Medicine participants are currently undergoing executive-level training as part of the project, an initiative positioned within the strategic plan’s value pillar. CUSP training will result in the development of physician-nurse dyads in each unit at UF Health Shands Hospital that will set quality and safety goals specific to their unit’s needs.

“With their combined expertise, our physicians and nurses know what matters most to both the patient and the unit,” said Nila Radhakrishnan, M.D., a clinical associate professor, chief of the division of hospital medicine and the project champion. “When you create that clear line of communication among everyone, the outcomes are going to be tremendous.”