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Remembering Frances Millican
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GIVING BACK Students share their time with the community
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COLLEGE NEWS 12 colleges. 12 highlights.
UCF TODAY f o r Fa m i ly a n d f r i e n d s o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C e n t r a l F l o r i da
Winter 2010
$7.5 Million Grant to Go Greener UCF has been awarded a $7.5 million research grant to study ways to make photovoltaic solar cells more efficient in capturing and converting solar energy into electricity, and less costly to manufacture.
UCF Wins Statewide Award for Small Business Support
BLACK & GOLD & BLUE
The Blue Man Group entertained Knight fans during halftime at a recent basketball game.
UCF Alzheimer’s Discovery Could Lead to Preventive Treatment
UCF Helps White House Create Jobs
Despite a massive g loba l research effort, many basics of Alzheimer’s disease onset remain elusive. This has ha mpered development of t reat ment s that are effective during the earliest stages of the disease, when prevention is most likely. Most studies focus on treating already damaged cells, mainly looking to help patients manage the symptoms. UCF researcher James Hickman, head of UCF NanoScience Technology Center’s Hybrid Systems Laborator y, and his team are re-thinking that approach. T he re s e a rc h re ve a le d a previously unknown mechanism that may drive the early brain f u nct ion deteriorat ion of Alzheimer’s victims, thus opening a new exploratory path in the quest for an Alzheimer’s cure. This path may lead to an Alzheimer’s treatment that could block the onset of t he mild cognitive
UCF answered t he W hite House’s request to hold community job summits by gathering together small business owners, executives, nonprofit managers and other community members. President Obama’s request is to help address the nation’s unemployment rate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic’s most recent reports, the national unemployment rate has reached 10 percent and Florida’s has reached 11.5 percent. “Your community jobs forum will be a source of insights and
impairment associated with the early stages of the disease A substance called amyloidbeta gums up brain cells when it becomes too concentrated, b e c au s e it for m s damaging deposits on the cells known as plaques. These prevent nor ma l elec t r ica l signal generation in the cells, eventually killing them. That drives the memory loss and other problems that plague Alzheimer’s sufferers.
ide a s t hat w i l l i n for m t he President’s approach to job creation,” White House advisor Va ler ie Ja r ret t w rote i n a n e-mail to community leaders, including UCF’s Thomas Bryer, assistant professor for public administration. She said President Obama wants “to explore every possible avenue for job creation.” “Our forum was one of four out of the 3,276 forums conducted around the country to be featured in a final report from the Obama Administration,” Bryer said of last year’s forum.
2009 Health Care Heroes of UCF The Orlando Business Journal placed three UCF community members among its 2009 Health Care Heroes.
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Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda’s foundation— the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—recently awarded UCF Associate Professor Alex Cole the Grand Challenges Explorations grant. Cole’s innovative global research into HIV prevention was one of only 76 to be awarded out of 3,000 applicants.
UCF a “Best Value”
UCF in Top 50 for National Merit Scholars
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UCF Wins Grant to Research HIV
Kiplinger and The Princeton Review have rated UCF as a “Best Value” university. UCF was rated 36th and 38th by Kiplinger and The Princeton Review, respectively.
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The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UCF received seven awards during the Florida Small Business Development Center Network’s 2009 Performance Excellence Awards Ceremony in Orlando for its outstanding performance in supporting small businesses in categories such as Florida Volunteer of the Year and Florida Innovative Program and Best Practice Award. To learn more about the SBDC, visit www.sbdcorlando.com.
The National Merit Report has ranked UCF 43rd nationally and number two in Florida for number of first-time-in-college merit scholars.
Pappachan Kolattukudy, director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Medicine, was recognized for his 45 years of research accomplishments. He is ranked in the top five percent of the most highly funded National Institutes of Health researchers in the United States during the past 25 years.
Harris Rosen, a charter member of the UCF Board of Trustees and namesake of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, was recognized for his innovation in taking care of his employees’ health. Rosen opened an on-site health center where employees of Rosen Hotels and Resorts can see a doctor while “on the clock.”
Amber Kaufman, an adjunct instructor in UCF’s pediatric nu rse prac t it ioner ma ster’s program and graduate of the UCF College of Nursing, was named a Nurse Hero for 2009. She is also a certified nurse practitioner and has organized medical mission trips to Africa.
UCF Awarded Healthy Sum: $1.3 Million UCF received a federal grant to study whether Get Active Orlando’s walking, bicycling and community gardening programs are helping older adults and lower-income, minority families become more physically active.