UF-City of Gainesville award recipients announced

Charlie Lane, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

The Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer is pleased to announce the recipients of $312,760 in funding for seven UF-City of Gainesville research projects.

As part of UF’s Strategic Development Plan, I announced in February a call for proposals that utilize the UF campus and greater Gainesville community as a living laboratory to address real-world problems in the local community.

The response to the call for proposals was impressive. We received 62 excellent proposals from about 40 different departments and centers covering an array of topics, including health and wellness, smart cities, economic development, equity and more. We saw many great ideas that would bring UF and Gainesville together to solve problems of all kinds.

The selection process was challenging, but I’m delighted to announce the following seven award recipients – two more than the five we had anticipated funding, thanks to Shands CEO Ed Jimenez and Gainesville Regional Utilities general manager Ed Bielarski contributing to the award pool.

Please join me in congratulating your colleagues in winning these awards.

Dr. Michael Morris, PI: The Gainesville Entrepreneurship and Adversity Program
Co-PI Dr. Jamie Kraft

Dr. Lily Elefteriadou, PI: Public Acceptance of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Technology
Co-PI Dr. Nithin Agarwal

Dr. Lisa Chacko, PI: Community Resource Paramedic: An Innovative Approach to Meeting the Needs of Gainesville’s Most Vulnerable Populations
Co-PIs Dr. Laura Guyer and Mr. David Sutton

Dr. Jose Fortes, PI: Data-centric Modeling and Support of the Lifecycle of the Gainesville Businesses
Co-PIs Dr. Christopher McCarty, Dr. Renato Figueiredo, Dr. Erik Bredfeldt, and Ms. Lila Stewart

Dr. Kathryn Frank, PI: Neighborhoods as Community Assets—Preparing for the Future While Protecting Neighborhoods
Co-PIs Dr. Kristin Larsen, Dr. Laura Dedenbach, and Ms. Tyeshia Redden

Dr. Herman Knopf, PI: Building a Partnership Between Early Head Start and the Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies to Benefit Young Children and Families in East Gainesville
Co-PI Dr. Maureen Conroy

Dr. Ravi Srinivasan, PI: Urban Energy Model for Smart City Informatics

The University of Florida’s Strategic Development Plan seeks to shape the university and surrounding community’s future over the next 40 to 50 years and establish the framework for the “New American City.” Find out more about the plan at www.strategicdevelopment.ufl.edu.