More than 200 students from the Northeast, Central and Gulf Coast Florida regions of the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative competed in debate as part of a series of competitions. The three regions hosted virtual debate competitions, and students stood out with the strongest, most logically constructed, evidence-based arguments. Eleven winners emerged from 34 participating schools.
Gainesville resident
Makyala Gilliam, a student at Kanapaha Middle School, placed second for her topic “Just Talk.
Event organizers said implementing the online events has been a team effort that includes varsity student debaters, parents, college faculty, debate coaches and college students to help administer and judge the tournaments.
Daniel Czyz, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Florida, is one of 10 researchers exploring the link between an infectious agent and Alzheimer’s disease who have each been awarded $100,000 research grants through the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Foundation’s Microbial Pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s Disease Grant program. Since the program was established in 2018, the IDSA Foundation has provided more than $600,000 to seven researchers, making the 2020 awardees the largest recipient pool to date. The program will provide an additional pilot grant of $8,000 to begin research and initial data collection for a dementia study in Uganda.
Based on early evidence, experts believe an infectious agent or a microbial mechanism may have a connection to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a news release from IDSA. To advance research that could shed light and provide hope to the more than 5.7 million Americans and 47 million people worldwide living with the