Chad Werch, director of the AHB Research Institute and principal investigator, said this study is unique because adolescents from diverse high school settings will receive positive youth development messages along with health risk messages for substance abuse, thus targeting multiple health behaviors during a single, short intervention session.

“This project strives to reduce alcohol abuse and problems among high-risk older adolescents often ignored in prevention research and services,” Werch said.

The intervention study, called Active!, hopes to combat physical inactivity, alcohol and drug misuse, poor nutrition and lack of sleep, all of which are common issues among today’s teenagers. According to research, more than half of American youths are not physically active on a regular basis. National health data for high school students also show an alarming 25.5 percent of students have been involved in heavy episodic drinking in the past month, according to the Youth Risk Behavior and Surveillance Survey in 2005.

This grant will allow AHB Research Institute to provide a free, activity-based health promotion program for at-risk high school students at various northeast Florida public schools, Werch said.

Werch said research on an initial intervention titled SPORT showed an increase in moderate and vigorous physical activity, and a decrease in alcohol use, heavy drinking and alcohol problems among participating adolescents.

“Active! is built on years of previous research funded by the National Institutes of Health,” Werch said. “It is designed to increase physical activity, decrease alcohol use and promote better nutrition and sleep habits.”

The first phase of the program will have students evaluate future intervention strategies for content and design. The next phase will consist of evaluations of a 20-minute screen, fitness consultation, and a plan created by computer or a fitness specialist. A third phase will examine a parent-based program delivered by mail to participating adolescents’ homes.

“Our trained intervention staff will provide brief motivational programs addressing a variety of health behaviors including, exercise, eating healthy, resting properly and avoiding alcohol and other drug use,” Werch said.

The college is using the $275,000 grant to fund the newly created Study of the U.S. Institute on Journalism and Media, a six-week program titled “New Freedoms in Media: Teaching the Digital Journalism of Tomorrow.” It starts June 10.

“The excitement and passion the University of Florida has shown in designing and planning this program is very evident,” said Adam Van Loon, a program officer in the State Department’s Study of the United States Branch. “We’re delighted to be working with the College of Journalism and Communications.”

Eighteen journalism educators from as far away as Argentina, China and Rwanda will spend four weeks in Gainesville, a week in South Florida and a week in Washington, D.C., and New York. Among other topics, they’ll examine the media’s role in America, journalism’s potential in their countries and online communications’ influence on the international community.

The participants will benefit from the “skills and knowledge [they’ll] acquire and be able to disseminate,” said Professor Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, principal investigator and associate dean for research. “The U.S. will also benefit, as better informed audiences in the participants’ countries lead to more productive relationships.”

The institute goes beyond providing new tools. It aims to inspire such actions as the promotion of a global free press and engendering interaction among members of the media, said Professor Emeritus Kurt Kent, the institute’s co-director.

The participants are among the 30,000 people who participate annually in State Department exchanges, which include the Fulbright program. They will produce news and multimedia blogs and take a close look at diversity in the United States. They’ll visit a Habitat for Humanity project and African-American, Haitian and Hispanic media operations.

The experience is about more than exchanging knowledge and sharing viewpoints — it’s about establishing long-term, two-way relationships, Kent said. “Our faculty members will learn from them while they’re here, and afterwards.” It’s also about the future. The participants will have an impact on their countries’ next generations of journalists and media professionals.

“We’ve heard from our listeners that they get a lot out of the show, but it’s also nice to be recognized by our peers,” host Tom Wichman said.

The program is written in a friendly and fun style that appeals to both amateur and experienced gardeners — covering such topics as lawn care, flower planting, watering and fertilizing. There are also shows about outdoor living, garden-related crafts, hurricane preparation and recovery, as well as coping with drought.

“Americans love to garden,” said Wichman, who is also the primary content reviewer for the program and the state Master Gardener coordinator. “And we think this format is a great way to get people interested in the latest University of Florida research information.”

Three out of four American households have some kind of yard or garden, according to the Garden Writers Association. In fact, Florida’s green industry, which encompasses all lawn- and gardening-related business, contributed $15.2 billion to the state economy in 2006. Research shows that gardeners are not only willing to spend to get the landscapes they want, they are also voracious seekers of gardening-related information.

Each “Gardening in a Minute” show refers the audience to county Extension offices and the “Gardening in a Minute” Web site, www.gardeninginaminute.com. Both the program and Web site emphasize Florida-friendly gardening practices, which impact the state’s unique environment as little as possible.

The radio program and its Web site have been recognized for providing quality information in a user-friendly format by the American Society for Horticultural Science; the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association; the National Association of County Agricultural Agents; and twice by the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences.

“Gardening in a Minute” airs every weekday on NPR stations in 19 counties in North Central Florida and will be expanding to other stations in the near future.

Produced by WUFT-FM in Gainesville, “Gardening in a Minute” may be heard on that station and WJUF-FM in Inverness during the 2 o’clock hour and again at 6:18 p.m. It’s sponsored by UF’s Center for Landscape Ecology and Conservation.

William G. Lassiter Jr. and his wife Aneice of West Palm Beach, Fla., have given $1 million to UF’s M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction and $1 million to UF’s College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.

“I wanted to put back something into the university that would help a lot of young people in building construction,” said William Lassiter, alumnus of the building construction program at UF and director of W.G. Lassiter Properties Inc., a major real estate development company in Palm Beach, Fla. “My wife wanted to do something for kids, so we also decided to give to the Department of Pediatrics.”

Lassiter, who graduated from UF in 1951, is also the president of Palm Beach Development Corp. and Legal Leasing Corporation and director of Gardens Park Plaza Inc. and the Beltub Park Property Owners Association Inc.

The gift to the School of Building Construction in the College of Design, Construction and Planning will endow the William G. Lassiter Jr. and Aneice R. Lassiter Professorship in Building Construction. The funds will provide spendable income to be used to support a professorship in the school.

“The resources generated by Lassiter’s endowed professorship will be used to bring outstanding
construction professionals into the classroom to share their knowledge with our students and give them a broader
exposure to the real world of construction,” said Abdol Chini, director and professor at the school.

The Lassiters also gave $600,000 to endow the William G. Lassiter Jr. and Aneice R. Lassiter Professorship in the Department of Pediatrics to support a professorship with an emphasis on congenital heart disease, and $400,000 to endow the William G. Lassiter Jr. and Aneice R. Lassiter Pediatric Diabetes Research Fund.

The gift is eligible to receive state matching funds from the State of Florida Trust Fund for Major Gifts and it will be recognized as part of President Bernie Machen’s Faculty Challenge Initiative.
“We want young men and women to further their education, graduate and go on to make good careers,” said Lassiter. “We also wish that our gift will help provide funds for someone to discover a cure for congenital heart disease or take pediatric diabetes research to another level.”

The grant, which will be distributed over three years starting in July, will fund her research into two proteins associated with breast cancer development and spread: focal adhesion kinase and p53, a tumor suppressor gene altered in about 40 percent of breast tumor cases. Golubovskaya, who is affiliated with UF Shands Cancer Center, will analyze how the two proteins interact, an association that has never been studied in the breast cancer cell-biology field.

“This grant will help develop future therapy for breast cancer targeting these two proteins,” Golubovskaya said.

The grant is part of nearly $82 million the foundation is awarding this year through its Research Grants and Awards Program.

The award is given annually to a periodontal faculty member in each of the nation’s 56 dental schools who has been identified by his or her colleagues as having provided “outstanding teaching and mentoring in periodontics.” Brock was cited for his contributions to the department as interim director of the postgraduate program while continuing his undergraduate teaching, and for his recent board certification in periodontology.

Nursing Research, the official journal of the Eastern Nursing Research Society and the Western Institute of Nursing, is one of the most highly ranked journals in nursing. Articles published in the journal present study findings and describe research methodologies for advancing nursing science.

The editorial board includes major leaders in the nursing research community. Kneipp was selected based on her national reputation in research and her contributions to Nursing Research as a member of the manuscript review panel.

Her research focuses on the relationships between social determinants of health and health disparities among women. Her current NIH-funded study incorporates a community-based participatory research approach to improve health outcomes among women transitioning from welfare to work with chronic health conditions.

As president of the American Association of Dental Research, Heft’s responsibilities include representing the association at national meetings, presiding over board and council meetings, establishing task forces on issues of interest to the AADR and promoting its mission.

Heft has led a distinguished career of research and instruction at UF since 1984, after earning his bachelor’s and dental degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and his doctoral degree in psychology from American University. Besides his appointment in the College of Dentistry, Heft holds joint appointments as a professor of neuroscience in the College of Medicine and a professor of clinical and health psychology in the College of Public Health and Health Professions. He is the director of the Claude D. Pepper Center for Research on Oral Health in Aging, and is a member of UF’s McKnight Brain Institute. He is a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Gerontological Society of America.

Tomar will automatically become president of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry in 2009. The association is the world’s largest multidisciplinary professional organization focused on improving public oral health.

Tomar, who earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine from Temple University, his Master of Public Health from Columbia University and his Doctor of Public Health in oral epidemiology from the University of Michigan, studies the relationship of tobacco use to the development of oral diseases and cancers.

He has served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health and has been a consultant to the World Health Organization, the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the Florida Comprehensive Cancer Control Initiative.

Three awards were designated: one for alumni achievement, one for distinguished service to the veterinary profession and one for special service.

This year’s Alumni Achievement Award recipient is Link Welborn, D.V.M., a 1982 graduate of the college. Welborn, co-owner of several small-animal practices in Tampa, is a past president of the American Animal Hospital Association. He has served on the college’s alumni council and advisory committee and helped establish the Jim Himes Alumni Scholarship in honor of an emeritus dean of students at the college. Welborn was named Veterinarian of the Year by the Florida Veterinary Medical Association in 2006.

“Dr. Welborn is a stellar example of one who models professionalism across all slices of life,” said Gail Kunkle, D.V.M., a professor of small-animal dermatology and associate chair for instruction at the college, in a letter supporting Welborn’s nomination. “He is an ambassador for veterinary medicine nationwide as well as serving as an ambassador for our college.”

Maarten Drost, D.V.M., a professor emeritus at the college and an internationally respected expert in livestock reproduction, has received the Distinguished Service Award. Drost pioneered studies in embryo transfer techniques and was the first person in the world to perfect that technique in water buffaloes.

A 1962 graduate of Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Drost has received numerous awards for teaching as well as for his scientific accomplishments. Drost officially retired from UF in 2003 but has remained active, completing a Web atlas of animal reproduction using thousands of visual aids that are freely available to students and scientists worldwide.

Donald Bennink, owner of North Florida Holsteins dairy farm in Bell, Fla., has received the Special Service Award. North Florida Holsteins is the UF Veterinary Medical Center’s longest-standing client.

“They have been the backbone of the food animal teaching program for many years,” said Art Donovan, D.V.M., a professor of food animal medicine at the college. “With the exception of the charter class, nearly every student that has graduated from our college has passed through the gates of Don’s farm. The students have had the opportunity to hone their clinical and problem-solving skills using his cows in a production setting. He also has provided a significant caseload to the food animal hospital, where more intense case management could be provided.”

More than 30 veterinary residents and 20 interns in the Food Animal Medicine and Reproduction Service, as well as six graduate students from 16 countries, have received a substantial portion of their training at North Florida Holsteins, Donovan added.

The awards will be presented at 2 p.m. May 26 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts during college commencement exercises.

UF, along with Cornell University, took home more awards than any other university in 15 countries this year. UF’s winners are P.K. Nair, distinguished professor of agroforestry in UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences; Ken Wagener, chemistry professor; and Tony Ladd, professor of chemical engineering.

The Humboldt Prize is Germany’s highest research honor and includes awards up to $80,000. The Humboldt Foundation is a nonprofit foundation established by the Federal Republic of Germany for the promotion of international research cooperation. It enables highly qualified scholars to spend extended periods of research in Germany and promotes international scientific cooperation. The awards are provided on the basis of nominations by eminent German scholars because direct applications from outside Germany are not accepted.

Nair has a doctoral degree in agronomy from Pantnagar Agricultural University, India, and a doctor of science in agriculture from Goettingen University, Germany. Wagener has a doctoral degree in chemistry from UF. Ladd earned his doctoral degree in theoretical chemistry from the University of Cambridge in England.

The professors received the awards in a ceremony in Bamberg, Germany, on March 23.

Jane Gannon, M.S.N., C.N.M., a clinical assistant professor on the UF Health Science Center’s Jacksonville campus, was honored at a ceremony held during National Nurses Week.

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida Inc. is a volunteer group of professional nurses that provides funding for nursing scholarships, contributes dollars for research studies to improve patient care and recognizes outstanding nurses and their successes.

Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida honorees are selected based on their professional contributions and how well these contributions are known and recognized in the community.

Gannon is a certified nurse midwife and teaches several graduate courses, including advanced health assessment and primary care for advanced practice nurses. She also teaches undergraduate nursing students during their practicum in maternity care.

Gannon is currently practicing at Shands Jacksonville in the Care Center for Women and in the labor and delivery units. She is an active member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and the American Public Health Association.

The award marks the first time a UF faculty member has been named a Carnegie Scholar.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York recently announced this year’s class of 21 scholars, who will receive grants of up to $100,000 each to research themes relating to Islam and the modern world over the next two years. This is the third class of Carnegie Scholars to focus on Islam.

The Carnegie Corporation’s goal in emphasizing this topic is to build a body of thoughtful and original scholarship that will help to encourage the development and expansion of the study of Islam in the U.S.

The 2007 class reflects diverse professional, ethnic and geographical backgrounds. This year many scholars are studying the Muslim diaspora in Asia, Europe and Africa. The range of fields includes gender studies, law, religion, science, history, sociology, international relations, politics, anthropology, economics, human rights and art.

Villalón’s project is entitled “Negotiating Democracy in Muslim Contexts: Political Liberalization and Religious Mobilization in the West African Sahel.” The project grows out of his extensive previous research in the region. His research specialization is the field of African politics, where he focuses on issues of Islam and politics and on democratization in the Sahelian countries of Senegal, Mali and Niger. Villalón has written several books, including “Islamic Society and State Power in Senegal.” He taught for two years as a Fulbright senior scholar at the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal.

Villalón’s said his project’s main goal is to help understand the varied roles Islam can play in politics. He notes that “studying how these three Muslim countries have — against all the odds — managed to create democratic political systems can tell us much about potential alternatives in the current debate about democracy in the Muslim world.” His work will result in a book that is intended to be accessible to the public, policymakers and the academic community.

Villalón holds a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin as well as degrees from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University and Louisiana State University.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” As a grant-making foundation, the corporation will invest more than $90 million this year to fulfill Carnegie’s mission, “to do real and permanent good in this world.”

The Superior Accomplishment Awards are presented each spring semester for the period covering the previous academic year — Aug. 1, 2005, to July 31, 2006. Awards are given in six categories, first at the divisional level and then at the university level: clerical/office support, support services, scientific/technical, administrative/supervisory, administrative/professional, and academic personnel.

Division-level award recipients receive cash awards of $200 each, then compete for university-level awards, which offer eight $1,000 and six $2,000 cash awards.

The following individuals received awards at the university level, the Superior Accomplishment Awards’ highest honors, and were awarded with a $2,000 check, a commemorative plaque, an autographed football by Head Football Coach Urban Meyer, and an invitation to the President’s Box during an upcoming UF home football game:

• Clerical/Office Support
  Audrey Duke, executive secretary, Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
• Support Services
  Thomas Willingham, senior custodial worker, Housing and Residence Education
• Scientific/Technical
  Wayne Walker, senior pest control technician, Housing and Residence Education
• Administrative/Supervisory
  Patricia Shore, accountant, Student Government Finance
• Administrative/Professional
  Ann Welch, coordinator of clinical programs, College of Medicine
• Academic Personnel
  Dr. Alison Morton, assistant professor, College of Veterinary Medicine

The following individuals received the Jeffrey A. Gabor Employee Recognition Award, sponsored by the Gabor Agency, and were awarded with a $1,000 check and a commemorative plaque:

• Kristi Esmiol, coordinator of academic support services, College of Veterinary Medicine
• Arthur Holsey, groundskeeper, Physical Plant
• Amy Osborne, library technical assistant, Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
• Salena Robinson, program assistant, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The following individuals received the HRH Employee Recognition Award, sponsored by HRH of Gainesville Inc., and were awarded with a $1,000 check and a commemorative plaque:

• Bahar Armaghani, assistant director, Facilities Planning and Construction
• Suzanne Johnson, office manager, Health Science Center / College of Medicine
• Charles Napier, coordinator for development/alumni affairs, UF Foundation
• Khuong Nguyen, senior biological scientist, Entomology / Nematology, IFAS

“The Superior Accomplishment Awards recognize outstanding individuals and their contributions to the university, the community, and the world,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, senior vice president for administration. “We are very proud of all the winners and look forward to seeing how they will continue to help UF grow into the nation’s top university. I encourage faculty and staff to take part in the nomination period this fall for the 2008 awards to recognize their peers and colleagues.”

UF’s Superior Accomplishment Awards Program was developed to recognize deserving university employees and is coordinated by the Office of Human Resource Services. For more information about the Superior Accomplishment Awards and the nomination process, and to view photos from the ceremony, please visit www.hr.ufl.edu/saa.

The Florida Student Association presented the educator with its Ken Pruitt Lifetime Achievement Award in a March 23 ceremony at the Governor’s Club in Tallahassee.

“I feel very honored to be recognized by the group and it’s particularly meaningful to come from the students,” York said.

York is a former chancellor of the State University System, University of Florida interim president and UF vice president for agricultural affairs. He organized UF’s agriculture program in its present form and led the effort to establish the state’s first veterinary college.

The award was presented by UF Student Body President John Boyles. Given annually, it recognizes one leader for promoting higher education on behalf of students.