Sept. 23, 2026 –– The College of Medicine contributed more than a quarter of the University of Florida’s research expenditures in fiscal year 2026, with researchers in Gainesville and Jacksonville conducting $368 million in research to improve patients’ lives.

“The College of Medicine’s research enterprise is a driving force behind the university’s continued growth as a national leader in biomedical research,” said Brian Hoh, M.D., M.B.A., the Folke H. Peterson Dean’s Distinguished Professor and dean of the College of Medicine. “These investments reflect the extraordinary talent of our faculty across Gainesville and Jacksonville and their commitment to building upon our collective strengths to impact the future of academic medicine and the communities we serve. Their work is helping to translate the power of research into meaningful improvements in human health.”

These research spending figures are derived from the National Science Foundation’s annual Higher Education Research and Development survey, an annual census that compares research spending among U.S. colleges and universities. The data reflects spending and rewards for the fiscal year spanning July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.

During this period, faculty across the university conducted a record $1.34 billion in research. The College of Medicine’s Gainesville campus had research expenditures of nearly $351 million, while the Jacksonville campus spent more than $17 million, for a total combined 26% of the university’s total.

“Our faculty are tackling some of the most complex health challenges of our time,” said Azra Bihorac, M.D., M.S., the college’s senior associate dean for research, R. Glenn Davis Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Surgery, Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering and director of the AI for Health Institute at the University of Florida. “By uncovering new mechanisms of disease, developing innovative technologies and bringing care to underserved communities, these projects prove the breadth and impact of our investigators’ work. I’m incredibly proud of the research teams who continue to push science forward.”

Teams of investigators at the College of Medicine have pursued pivotal research in the past year, with notable projects across Gainesville and Jacksonville that include:

• A seven-year award from the National Institutes of Health that will support 56 pilot projects at the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute and provide researchers across UF and Florida State University with resources in clinical research, biomedical informatics, data science, community engagement and workforce development, including artificial intelligence tools designed to analyze health data and improve outcomes.
• A study to show how brains affected by Alzheimer’s disease are loaded with abnormal sugar molecules that the brain is actively building, making the process a cause of the disease rather than a byproduct. The same work found that glucosamine, sold over the counter for joint pain, crosses into the brain and feeds that pathway. In a review of patient records, its use among people with dementia was associated with a 25% higher risk of death.
• The use of the UF Mobile Outreach Clinic to provide same-day diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C for unhoused and other high-risk patients, and employing street medicine visits and community health workers to reach people who would not otherwise start treatment.
• The further development of Gator MOMitor, a smartphone app designed to help new mothers monitor and report postpartum complications, including high blood pressure, depression, diabetes-related concerns and infection. The tool enables earlier intervention by healthcare providers and seeks to improve maternal health outcomes following childbirth.
• An NIH-funded study using privacy-preserving AI and health data from nearly 20 million patients to identify distinct patterns of childhood asthma and better understand how the disease progresses to help clinicians develop more personalized approaches to asthma care.
• An analysis of health records, transplant data and the experiences of more than 26,000 patients and their families to investigate why Black and Hispanic patients with Hodgkin lymphoma continue to experience poorer survival despite the disease’s high cure rate. The research seeks to identify barriers to care and develop strategies to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes.