The University of Florida announced Tuesday it will receive almost $26 million over five years to speed the progress of scientific discoveries into medical advances for patients.

UF joins a prestigious national group of medical research institutions in winning the competitive National Institutes of Health's "Clinical and
Translational Science Award."

UF is the only university in Florida to get the award.

The grant will support research in a wide range of fields such as biomedical informatics, gene therapy, aging, nanotechnology and infectious diseases.

The North Central Florida Community also benefits from the award. Every $5 million in annual research funding leads to about 100 new jobs and $20 million in incremental business activity, according to a news release from the University of Florida.