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Ebola vaccine for pregnant women: one step closer but still more to go

In the midst of a deadly epidemic like Ebola, who should get an experimental vaccine that provides protection against the disease 97.5% of the time? The obvious candidates would be immediate contacts of people who developed Ebola, and their contacts. Yet an entire group of vulnerable individuals who fall into…

Former UF Fogarty Fellows receive grant to study suicide in Sikkim, India

As a hospital clinical psychologist working in Sikkim, a small Indian state nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, Dr. Sonam Lasopa encountered several patients who had attempted suicide. At the same time, the local media was reporting several cases of death by suicide. Yet, there were no data on…

Wang Receives Pilot Award

Yan Wang, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology, has received a new pilot award from The University of Florida Center for Research to Investigate Substance Use and Pain (UF-CRISP). Her project is titled, “Medical marijuana use in older adults with chronic pain: A pilot project to build a…

Gainesville community members gain insight on medical marijuana

The devil’s lettuce. The horrible herb. Satan’s salad. The medical use of this controversial leafy green was up for discussion Wednesday night. UF HealthStreet, a community engagement branch of the UF Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, has been hosting interactive town halls since 2015. However, it held its first informational…

Epidemiology PhD Student Receives NIDA F-31 Fellowship

PhD student Verlin Joseph received a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) F-31 Fellowship for a project titled, “Patterns of Marijuana Use for HIV/AIDS Pain Management: A Mixed Methods Approach.” The F-31 Fellowship provides support to doctoral students who perform dissertation research and training in specific health related areas. The…

UF HealthStreet joins Melrose fire department in unique community health collaboration

UF HealthStreet has entered into a unique collaboration with the Melrose Volunteer Fire Department to train off-duty firefighters as certified community health workers, or CHWs. Serving as part-time CHWs, the firefighters will become familiar with the resources available through UF HealthStreet and can then connect community members to those resources…

UF joins National Academy of Medicine collaboration to counter opioid crisis

The University of Florida is joining a consortium of more than 100 organizations across the United States brought together by the National Academy of Medicine that have declared a commitment to reversing the nation’s opioid crisis. The academy announced Tuesday in Washington the names of the groups that have joined…

Cottler wins College on Problems of Drug Dependence mentoring award

For exemplary mentoring of fellow researchers in drug dependence, Linda B. Cottler, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the recipient of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence’s 2019 Mentorship Award. She will be recognized at the organization’s 81st Annual Meeting in San Antonio in June. “She provides her mentees with…

MSE Student Publishes Letter to the Editor in JAMA Pediatrics

Upuli Dissanayake, a Master of Science in Epidemiology student and a graduate intern for the Neuromedicine Interdisciplinary Clinical & Academic Program (NICAP), published a letter to the editor. The article “Additional Data to Explain Childhood Obesity” was published in JAMA Pediatrics, which is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal that covers all aspects…