UCF in the News

The University of Central Florida College of Medicine and HCA Florida Ocala Hospital’s Internal Medicine Residency Program are honored to announce a new partnership with Ocala Family Medical Center. This partnership expands opportunities for resident physicians’ education while increasing access to high-quality primary care services for the Ocala/Marion County community.

Could a trip to Mars leave an astronaut's liver looking decades older than it should? Researchers at the University of Central Florida believe they may have found exactly that, and the implications reach far beyond the astronauts themselves. Led by Professor Michal Masternak, the team set out to understand what prolonged exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation actually does to the body at a molecular level. Within just twenty four hours of radiation exposure, the liver showed a wave of genetic changes strikingly similar to those seen during the natural ageing process. The organ displayed increased cellular senescence, a state in which cells lose their normal function, alongside rising inflammation and fibrosis, changes that, left unchecked, can eventually push an organ toward failure. Masternak's team focused specifically on the liver because of its central role as one of the body's key metabolic organs, making it a particularly sensitive early indicator of wider physiological stress.

Entrepreneur and University of Central Florida alumnus Barry Miller has donated $50 million to his alma mater — its largest-ever individual philanthropic gift. UCF's business school will become the Barry S. Miller College of Business, while the funds will help establish five endowed faculty chairs and a new master's degree program, expand access to internships and increase UCF's corporate partnerships. Miller, who graduated from UCF in 1995 with a degree in finance, is the president and co-founder of Voloridge Investment Management in 2009 and Voloridge Health in 2023. He was inducted into the UCF College of Business Hall of Fame in 2022. "There are many foundational aspects I gained by attending UCF," Miller says, "including many relevant courses like statistics, economics, marketing, accounting, etc., and outside of the classroom I met many of the most important individuals in my life, including my wife, best friend and business partner, and many close friends."

A new forensic training and research lab has opened in Lake Nona, giving University of Central Florida students a chance to learn alongside working Florida Department of Law Enforcement scientists while supporting research into emerging substances. FDLE and UCF leaders said the space is the first co-located lab of its kind in Florida, designed to better prepare forensic science students for careers in crime labs and related fields. “It really lays out a more realistic expectation for them as they can see their future working in a crime lab or somewhere else,” said Olivia Glaze, a UCF student. Glaze said the hands-on training could also shorten the learning curve once students are hired full-time.

We usually don't think about all the things we touch and interact with every day, whether they're metal, plastic, or something else. But that's all a homegrown team of engineers does, as they turn plants into the next generation of tech and things you use every day. All that science happens inside a warehouse in Lake Nona, where the Soarce team creates something they hope changes the way things are made. "Cellulose is the most abundant polymer on the planet," CEO Derek Staltzman said. "It's actually found in the majority of biomass; trees, grasses, things like that." Co-founders Staltzman and Mason Mincey, who's also chief operating officer, learned about cellulose from books on material science in a library.

CNN reviewed and verified dozens of videos from Venezuela’s two deadly earthquakes and found many residential towers had ‘pancaked.’ But why is it so lethal when buildings collapse this way? UCF civil engineering professor Necati Catbas, who has studied collapsed structures, describes the collapse of floors onto each other as 'pancake collapse.'

An international research consortium led by the University of Central Florida (UCF) has announced two key milestones for its Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA) platform, aiming to accelerate and expand global extended reality research. Supported by collaborative grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), VERA is the first large-scale system dedicated to human-subjects research in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). The platform has entered open beta, launched its first large-scale remote study, and issued its first operational-use grant.

Meet the key professionals guiding where artificial intelligence and education intersect in the Sunshine State: Laura Brattain, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Central Florida, College of Medicine, Internal Medicine Department Time in role: 2 years Brattain has been heavily involved in biomedical artificial intelligence research. Her recent work includes mentoring a senior design team to develop an AI-based app for a robotic knee surgeon at Jewett Orthopedic Institute. She is also working with Vanquish Bio on an AI detection tool to more quickly and effectively diagnose pancreatic cancer. Other work by Brattain with Orlando Health includes the AIMS program. Known as AI for Medical Surgery, the system, designed by six senior design students, enables tracking of medical staples in a surgical environment. Brattain’s work comes as UCF has increased its cross-disciplinary AI work across multiple colleges. The goal is to tackle problems with experts from multiple specialties.

The University of Central Florida is quickly building out its artificial intelligence infrastructure, including bringing companies into the process. For example, global financial firm BNY and Central Florida health system Orlando Health are both located in the college’s SPRK building, which also houses its Institute of Artificial Intelligence. Both organizations are participating in UCF’s Pegasus Partnerships program — a system in which the private sector works closely with UCF students to create employment opportunities — to expand opportunities and advance emerging technology. For BNY, it was the first to open an 8,400-square-foot Next-Gen Cybersecurity Technology and Operations Center Lab. The lab allows students to learn how technologies such as AI are used in banking alongside BNY staff. Orlando Health was drawn to the building because it can have an extension of itself directly on campus for students to access. That adds to its presence at other campuses, such as the Lake Nona Academic Health Sciences Campus. UCF’s AI Institute, created in 2025 and now under construction, has grown to 24 faculty members across multiple disciplines. The institute includes a presence from the College of Medicine, College of Business, College of Sciences, and College of Engineering and Computer Science. It is working to promote cross-industry and cross-college collaboration to address potential problems. At UCF Downtown, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, which offers education in video game careers, works with a variety of companies that use artificial intelligence. These include major firms such as Electronic Arts and smaller studios. Ben Noel, executive director for FIEA, said there are applications for the technology, especially with repetitive tasks.