Letter from the CEO, April 2018
Moving medicine forward because every patient deserves a chance.
The high-quality health care we enjoy today is the result of years of hard work by physicians, PhD scientists, medical researchers and other professionals who investigated the causes and potential treatments for disease. It is because of their tireless efforts that several once life-threatening afflictions have been eradicated.
While great progress has been made, there is still much to do. Researchers continue to see promising results for some of our biggest health problems, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, through their ongoing studies. As investigations continue and more findings are made, we will continue to see profound changes in our approach to treatment.
UF Health and the University of Florida colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy are at the forefront of many of these advancements. As an academic health center, our physicians capitalize on many breakthroughs by taking discoveries directly from the laboratory setting into our exam rooms and specialty practices with the help of patients.
In order to improve treatment options or increase the survival rates for specific diseases, we must test new treatments against current therapies. Sometimes important clinical research isn’t completed because enough people could not be recruited. Through developments in genetics, we also know it is important for volunteers to come from diverse backgrounds, further increasing the challenges for many current clinical studies and trials.
UF Health Jacksonville is working to change that through our new Jacksonville Aging Studies Center, or JAX-ASCENT. The new center will connect older adults who are interested in participating in medical studies with study investigators, a major part in the process of enhancing health care. By conducting and participating in research, we aim to provide hope for patients who are limited by their conditions. This clinical registry fulfills an important need — allowing us to move medicine forward because every patient, regardless of age, deserves a chance.
Sincerely,
Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, MHSA, CPE, FACEP
