UNF Journal: Winter 2021
Alumna’s Lab Passes the Test
As a child, Julie Brazil, ’03, underwent numerous orthopedic surgeries at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, Jacksonville. The experience shaped her interest in healthcare and inspired a strong desire to make a real impact on patient care and outcomes. As co-founder and chief operating officer of Gravity Diagnostics in Covington, Kentucky, Brazil, a UNF alumna, is doing just that.
Caring Ospreys: UNF Alumni In Healthcare
UNF alumni are healing, comforting and inspiring innovation across the First Coast and beyond. In a wide variety of fields, these difference makers are impacting patients, families and communities every day and motivating those around them to do better and do more. This UNF Journal is proud to feature just a few of these exceptional Ospreys in healthcare, who all share an incredible desire to care for others.
Dr. Thomas G. Carpenter: Founding President Shaped UNF
The University of North Florida community mourns the loss of our founding president, Dr. Thomas G. Carpenter. Carpenter headed the University from 1969 until 1980, making him the second longest-serving president in UNF’s history. He led the University from its initial planning through the first day of classes in 1972 and charted the course of its early growth.
On-Campus COVID Testing Offers ‘Win-Win’
For nursing student Shannon Kelley, fall semester 2020 offered real-world experience that no one could have imagined. In the midst of a pandemic, she and nearly 70 other students helped provide on-campus COVID-19 testing to gain the clinical experience they needed as part of their coursework.
Research Roundup: How does sitting for hours affect your heart?
If you have read any of the research suggesting a strong link between sedentary lifestyles and chronic disease, you may have been motivated to increase your exercise and physical activity. Of course, becoming more physically active is always a good choice. Yet, if you sit for long periods of time all day, do not expect your evening exercise to counter the negative effects of all that inactivity.
Research Roundup: Where will researchers find the next generation of drugs?
Mother Nature has inspired the majority of pharmaceuticals in use today, and researchers believe there are many natural frontiers left to explore. Dr. Amy Lane, associate professor of chemistry, has turned her focus to the ocean in an effort to tap into undiscovered resources and find the next big drug impacts for healthcare.
UNF MedNexus: Ensuring the Future of Florida’s Healthcare
With a program named UNF MedNexus, the University hopes to link resources across county lines in a collaborative effort to expand educational programs and enhance medical research. When the state’s 2020-21 budget was passed in June, UNF received just under $6 million to create the first phase of MedNexus, the nation’s first comprehensive, university-based medical and healthcare network.