UF College of Medicine students, faculty and staff celebrated the news that plans for a center for primary care education and a new medical education building are underway after an announcement that Dr. H. James Free, a member of the College of Medicine’s first graduating class of 1960, and his wife, Carole, made the lead gift toward the construction of the 100,000-square-foot building.

Michael Stanzione became the first person with Pompe disease in the world to receive a diaphragm pacing system, enabling him to breathe freely for the first time in four years. UF surgeons implanted the system, allowing Stanzione to resume a fulfilling life at home instead of in the hospital room.

Brian J. Young has been inspired by space exploration since he was a child, and his work as an electrical engineer for United Launch Alliance on Florida’s Space Coast has been both thrilling and fulfilling. After learning he had metastatic cancer in his shoulder, however, his most important mission was to save his arm and to beat the disease.

Annalise Mozer’s life was changed when she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of 11. Since then, the New York teen has traveled thousands of miles to participate in an important UF-led study and continues the fight at home by raising money for Type 1 research.