Moving the needle in higher education

Prozac appears to blunt formation of PTSD symptoms after traumatic injury in small study(opens in a new tab)

A preliminary, unblinded study has shown that people who took the antidepressant Prozac after suffering a traumatic injury reported fewer PTSD symptoms and lower levels of pain in the year after their injury. With roughly half of traumatic injury patients facing some mental health decline after their injuries, the study suggests that preventative medical interventions could reduce the formation of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

UF study finds kratom-derived products are frequently mislabeled(opens in a new tab)

What’s listed on a kratom product label may not tell the full story. Researchers in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy have found that commercially available kratom products, including many kratom-derived products, contain chemical compositions that differ from their labels, highlighting gaps in product transparency and the need for stronger regulation

Protective drug dexrazoxane reduces heart damage in pediatric cancer survivors years after treatment ends(opens in a new tab)

A long-term study of nearly 900 childhood cancer survivors found that the heart-protective drug dexrazoxane significantly reduced chemotherapy-related heart damage for years after treatment. This suggests dexrazoxane could eventually change lifelong cardiac screening recommendations by lowering many survivors’ risk of heart damage, potentially reducing the need for frequent heart monitoring.

Department of Energy Genesis Mission grant to UF-led team will speed up development of stronger materials(opens in a new tab)

A cross-disciplinary research team led by the University of Florida won a prestigious federal grant on Wednesday to develop an autonomous artificial intelligence platform that could fundamentally change how new materials are discovered. Selected from more than 5,000 applications, the project is one of 278 chosen under the U.S. Department of Energy’s highly competitive Genesis Mission Request for Applications program.

Retinal photographs can help predict Alzheimer’s disease risk factors(opens in a new tab)

Often called “the window to the soul,” the eyes may also offer clues about something less poetic but just as important: the health of the brain. A new study of tens of thousands of patients revealed that cheap, simple and common photographs of the retina at the back of the eye can accurately predict many of the most common risk factors that are associated with developing Alzheimer’s disease.