Tue Jun 1
This year’s five UCF National Science Foundation CAREER grant recipients are finding innovative and bold new ways to solve challenges that could be game changers in healthcare and engineering. For example, one researcher is tracking down what triggers harmless microorganisms into going rogue and turning into deadly pathogens such as flesh-eating bacteria. Another faculty member…
Sun May 23
In the military, medical officers are promoted at the time they receive their M.D. diploma. On Friday, College of Medicine graduates Hannah Prock Gibbs, Avery Johnson, Matthew Naedel and Joseph Ziebelman took their military orders and promotion pins moments after being declared physicians. The person giving those orders onstage at the Addition Financial Arena was…
Fri May 21
Nick Faraci still remembers a common question he received from his patients in a Pittsburgh spinal cord injury unit: “Do you think I’ll ever walk again?” Friday, as he graduated as a UCF-trained physician, he said those patients – and his life as a former rehab nurse and college football star – will make him…
Fri May 21
Tryphina Mikhail burst into tears of joy when she looked up into the stands of UCF’s Addition Financial Arena and saw an unexpected but familiar face: Her father, Dr. Adel Mikhail, had secretly flown 7,000 miles from Egypt to surprise his daughter for her graduation from the College of Medicine. “My mom told me he…
Tue May 18
When COVID-19 caused a shutdown of lab facilities last year, medical student Andrew Collins was forced to change the research project he was completing for the Focused Inquiry & Research Experience (FIRE) module – a required two-year research project for M.D. candidates at the College of Medicine. His revised project on masks to protect front-line…
Thu May 13
The advent of COVID-19 vaccines has provided a light at the end of the tunnel for a global pandemic that is going into its second year. However, College of Medicine epidemiologist Dr. Elena Cyrus believes the vaccine’s efficacy is partially dependent on persons adhering to receiving their second doses. Recent data from the Centers for…
Thu May 13
Growing up in the Philippines, Mara Mize saw firsthand how difficult it was for people living in poverty to access healthcare. This instilled in her a desire become a physician to provide care to those in need. Mize, who moved to the U.S. at 11 years-old is now another step closer to her dream, graduating…
Wed May 12
College of Medicine researcher Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno has received a highly competitive CAREER award from the National Science Foundation for his research into how deadly coastal bacteria resist antibiotics and enter a dormant state to survive between disease outbreaks. The prestigious $782,351 NSF award, distributed over five years, recognizes the work of outstanding early-career faculty…
Wed May 5
On Saturday May 8, 353 young scientists will graduate from the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. Those earning degrees include 341 undergraduates, 10 master’s students and two Ph.D. candidates. Among the graduates is Naima Dahir, who will receive a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences. “I’m the first scientist in my family, and the first to get…
Fri Apr 23
Internal Medicine residents at Osceola Regional Medical Center are playing their part in encouraging Central Florida residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Three residents are featured in Orange County’s “I Got My Shot” public safety campaign geared at reducing vaccine hesitancy and building community immunity. The campaign enlists trusted voices from Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and…
Fri Apr 23
Twenty medical students were recently inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the national honor society of medical students, which recognizes scholarship, leadership, professionalism and community service. The honorees were celebrated at a virtual induction banquet held March 11. To be an AOA inductee, students’ academic performance must be in the top 25 percent of their…
Wed Apr 14
Four biomedical sciences seniors and one M.D. student are among this year’s 23 recipients of the Order of Pegasus — UCF’s most prestigious student award. Undergraduate students are selected based on academic achievement, university involvement, leadership and community service. Graduate students are chosen based on the same merits as well as publication or research experiences.…
Wed Apr 14
In partnership with local law enforcement and in adherence with local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations, community members are invited to safely dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs at UCF’s the following HCA Healthcare drive-through sites from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at UCF Lake Nona Medical Center and other HCA hospitals in Orange, Seminole and…
Tue Apr 13
Three COVID-19 vaccines are currently approved by for distribution in the United States: Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. Please note: As of April 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended a “pause” in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare…
Thu Apr 1
For future biomedical scientist Sai Preethi Nakkina, research is like unlocking a mystery. “I have always been fascinated with research because it’s like looking for clues, step by step along the way to solving a mystery,” said Nakkina who has spent much of her UCF graduate student career researching pancreatic cancer. “I have always been…
Mon Mar 29
Second-year UCF M.D. student Aaishwariya Gulani and her former college roommate, Swathi Raman who attends medical school at Temple University both admired physicians who were skilled at communication and team-building, but weren’t sure how to learn those “soft skills.” So faced with isolation from COVID-19, they developed a series of podcasts that are getting the…
Tue Mar 23
Zach and Anna Thompson were forced to sit out a year of medical school after Zach was hit by a car and gravely injured while changing a flat tire on his way to class. “I went from having to navigate medical school to just surviving,” says Zach, who spent a week in intensive care. “I…
Fri Mar 19
UCF-HCA Healthcare’s graduate medical education (GME) program gained 190 new residents on March 19’s National Match Day, including 11 graduating seniors from the UCF College of Medicine. The UCF students matched into specialties including emergency medicine, internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, surgery and psychiatry in HCA hospitals across the state. This summer, when residencies and fellowships begin, UCF-HCA will have 512 physicians in its training programs, including two new programs at West Florida…
Thu Mar 18
Tiffany Chinwuba cares deeply about the barriers that many experience, particularly within the healthcare sector. That’s why she decided that her first research project at UCF would be to look at the overwhelming impact COVID-19 has had on nonprofit organizations over the past 11 months. She’ll be presenting her work at the Student Scholar Symposium…
Wed Mar 17
Language difficulties and cultural barriers keep an “alarming” number of Chinese Americans from asking for cancer screenings that may protect their health, according to a new UCF study. Dr. Su-I Hou, professor and interim chair of UCF’s Health Management & Informatics Department, said her results show that physicians and members of the Chinese community need to…