UF alumna tackles assault stigmas with campaign

After being sexually assaulted as a UF student, Gretchen Casey turned a nightmare into a chance to help others.

Casey, the director of Victim Services at the State Attorney’s Office, has dedicated her life to helping rape-survivors cope with their assaults and encouraging others to be more empathetic toward the issue of rape.

Through her Unshame campaign, which she began in 2014, Casey launched an online resource for assault survivors, which features victim services contacts and blog posts from survivors.

Casey said the shame put on survivors can often cause them to keep assaults a secret, because they feel like they are going to be blamed.

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UF researchers earn nearly $2 million grant to study patients with tremors

Two UF researchers received a grant of nearly $2 million to study a degenerative brain disorder.

UF neurosurgery professor Dr. Kelly Foote and professor Aysegul Gunduz received the $1.986 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a five-year study to look at essential tremor, an incurable degenerative brain disorder that results in increasingly debilitating tremors.

Foote and Gunduz, along with UF neurology professor Dr. Michael Okun, started collaborating in 2012. Foote, Gunduz and Okun are working with Medtronic, a company that makes medical devices, to develop deep brain stimulators that record brain activity in patients with tremors.

Their goal is to be able to understand the brain signals enough to pinpoint movement intentions that would then allow people who can’t move their bodies due to injury or disease to be able to control a computer with their thoughts, Gunduz said.

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UF, Gainesville host Mental Illness Awareness Week events

In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, UF Health and a handful of local mental-health groups are hosting events throughout the week.

Organized by the Mental Health Coalition of North Central Florida, the events will include seminars, workshops and films.

The goal of the week is to educate the public about mental-health issues, which are often ignored or carry a stigma, said Sheryl Conner, the president of the coalition.

“Many people know and see things going on, but they don’t talk about it till afterwards, and we need people to talk about it up front,” she said.

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Weekend walk to raise money for Alzheimer’s research

To raise money for Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment, more than 600 people will walk through a Gainesville park Saturday.

The eighth-annual Gainesville Walk to End Alzheimer’s free event, organized by the Alzheimer’s Association, will begin at 8 a.m. at Westside Park, located at 1001 NW 34th St. The walk will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Michelle Branham, the vice president of communications of public policy for the Central and North Florida chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, said watching students take time from their day to support a noble cause inspires her.

“It’s really exciting to see young people care about their community, care about their elders, care about what’s happening with this disease,” she said.

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Gainesville runs to prevent suicide

Oluchi Ojinnaka-Taylor, 36, ran in memory of her daughter Saturday.

As a part of World Suicide Prevention Day, the former mental health counselor joined about 100 others in a 5-kilometer run to benefit the Alachua County Crisis Center.

On Jan. 11, Ojinnaka-Taylor’s daughter Tiyana committed suicide at the age of 17. Wearing a shirt embellished with Tiyana’s photo, Ojinnaka-Taylor said she was still coming to grips with her death.

‘Love Wins’ author to speak at UF

A UF alumna is coming to UF to talk about the story behind the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Debbie Cenziper, who co-authored “Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality,” with Jim Obergefell, is speaking at Pugh Hall at 6 p.m. today as part of the Great Storytellers Series, hosted by UF’s College of Journalism and Communications.

A UF alumna is coming back to campus to talk about the story behind the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Debbie Cenziper, who coauthored “Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality,” with Jim Obergefell, is speaking at Pugh Hall at 6 p.m. today as part of the Great Storytellers Series, hosted by UF’s College of Journalism and Communications.

“I think she does a really good job about telling a pretty moving story of the players that were behind this landmark case,” said Shelby Taylor, the digital and communications director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.

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Local food tasting at First Magnitude on Friday

The First Magnitude Brewing Co. is hosting its first local food tasting.

To kick off the event, Forage and Blue Oven Kitchens are bringing in multiple vendors including Fables Catering and Wild Man Foods, FED Food Co., The Cookie Parlor and Bubba Luigi’s Road Trip. The event will take place from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, and tickets are $15 at the door.  

Meg The Losen, the president of the First Magnitude Brewing Co. at 1220 SE Veitch St., said members of Forage, a nonprofit farm in Gainesville, did a special citrus tasting during the fall that was well received by the community. This time, they wanted do something else with more food vendors.

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Second annual Cupid’s Consent Week to raise awareness for sexual safety

The days leading up to Valentine’s Day are full of love, but they’re also a time to review sexual safety.

STRIVE, a GatorWell organization, aims to raise awareness about sexual violence throughout the week around campus with the second annual Cupid’s Consent Week.

“(Cupid’s Consent is) a positive sort of look at healthy relationships, a real celebration of healthy relationships, the idea of consent, listening to the limits and boundaries people put up,” said Rita Lawrence, Interpersonal Violence Prevention coordinator.

Consent Week is meant to promote equality and respect for all genders, she said.

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