Departmental News

A new interactive series launched in February by the University of Florida’s Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) to helps researchers obtain direct, confidential feedback about proposed research. Called a “Design Studio,” the one-hour meeting mimics a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section to assess aspiring eggs of research before they hatch.

Held for the first time in Malachowsky Hall, HOBI Education Day was a great success, and we appreciate the organizers and many graduate students who contributed. During the full-day event we enjoyed 5 research presentations, 2 shark tank pitches, and 15 posters, along with the mentoring workshop and keynote.

Stephanie Staras, PhD, won the Principal Investigator award from the University of Florida Health Cancer Center for exceptional trial recruitment in 2023. She received the award in January at a ceremony at the Cade Museum in Gainesville, Florida. Staras is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics.

Researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine are working to improve the lives and patient care of children suffering with asthma in the United States. Asthma is a disease common among more than 6 million children nationwide. Jennifer Fishe, MD, and Jie Xu, PhD, are principal investigators for this study.

A new artificial intelligence computer program created by researchers at the University of Florida and NVIDIA can generate doctors’ notes so well that two physicians couldn’t tell the difference, according to an early study from both groups.

Dima Bteddini, a dedicated Ph.D. student concentrating in Health Outcomes and Implementation Sciences, has been awarded a Certificate of Outstanding Merit by the UF International Center and College of Medicine.

A new gathering co-sponsored by the University of Florida brought together 100 experts in medicine from across the U.S. to share ideas about the potential of artificial intelligence to supercharge health care. The event’s title was “Transforming Patient-Centered Health Care Delivery through an AI-enabled Learning Health System.”

With many experts in medical data, the University of Florida was selected to join a major national award given by the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Several other universities will participate in the $30 million effort to establish the Center for Linkage and Acquisition of Data (CLAD).

“Data envelopment analysis is a useful tool for assessing the relative efficiency of organizations that implement evidence-based programs in a way that is not possible with other analytic methods,” said Dr. Kathryn Pluta, University of Florida researcher and lead author.

A University of Florida researcher hit a grand slam that secured funding and launched three projects on September 1, 2023 for a combined value of $13.3 million. Jiang Bian, Ph.D., is a UF professor in Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics (HOBI) within the College of Medicine. The National Institute on Aging funded the three collaborative project grants.