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Dear Rutgers Health community,
I invite you to dive into the latest Rutgers Health Hub newsletter, which is centered around health equity. Reflecting on our recent Health Equity Symposium, I'm grateful for our community's dedication to addressing systemic injustices in health care.
As we explore this issue, I encourage you to discover the innovative initiatives Rutgers Health is undertaking to advance health equity, from groundbreaking, translational research to community outreach programs and providing equitable surgical services. Whether you are a researcher, clinician, educator, staff member or student, you have an important role to play in mitigating health disparities in our communities. Together, let's continue our commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable health care landscape for all.
Regards,
Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH
Chancellor, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Rutgers University
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Rutgers-Led Statewide Translational Research Institute Is Awarded Major Grant | |
The National Institutes of Health has awarded the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine $39.7 million in federal funding over the next seven years to build and improve upon infrastructure to promote clinical translational science started by the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS).
The funding will promote translational science, which uses discoveries made in the laboratory, clinic and community to create interventions that improve the health of individuals and populations – from diagnostics and therapeutics to medical procedures and behavioral health interventions.
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Evaluating Innovative Pregnancy Care Implementation to Inform Expansion
Thanks to funding from the Burke Foundation, the Rutgers School of Public Health will conduct the first statewide evaluation in New Jersey of an innovative model to improve maternal infant health through group prenatal visits. The model, created by CenteringPregnancy, brings together expectant mothers so they can spend more time with their healthcare providers in a welcoming and supportive group setting.
Learn more about the evaluation.
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The Anniversary Symposium: Uncovering Solutions to Health Inequities | |
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Members of the Rutgers Health community in March attended the Health Equity symposium. The event, which was part of the 10-year celebration, focused on how our institution can better address and mitigate health disparities through all our mission areas.
Students, faculty, staff and university leadership across Rutgers Health discussed advancing health equity, identified disparities, and explored solutions to ensure equitable health care access and outcomes for all.
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NJ Spotlight News Coverage | |
Speakers included New Jersey Commissioner of Health Kaitlan Baston, National Institutes of Health Director Eliséo Perez Stable, and Penn nursing expert J. Margo Brooks Carthon. The symposium underscored the critical role of all our mission areas in promoting equitable health care for all people, highlighting the need for proactive measures to address systemic injustices. | |
Meet the People of Rutgers Health | |
Three Rutgers Health employees were profiled as part of the “Meet the People of Rutgers” story series. | |
Linda Loughman Tanzer
Title: Chief Financial and Administrative Officer
Unit: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
“I have been an employee of Rutgers University since 2013 (the time of the integration of UMDNJ and Rutgers) and the CINJ became an institute within the university, renamed the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
I’m currently learning German so I can spend more time with my grandsons in Munich when I retire.”
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Sophia Jones
Title: Program Administrator
Unit: University Behavioral Health Care
“I am a program coordinator within the Rutgers Behavioral Health Care system and an adjunct professor at the Rutgers School of Planning and Public Policy.
I develop curriculums focused on cultural competency, health disparities and diversity, equity and inclusion, and belonging.”
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Jonathan Thompson
Title: System Administrator
Unit: Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research
"My favorite memory at Rutgers was when I received a dedicated service award from Rutgers Project L/EARN Graduate Preparation Program. Project L/EARN was a great program: Its purpose was to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in the fields of health, mental health and health policy research. For over 10 summers I shared my knowledge of computers and computer applications with the interns."
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Ernest School of Pharmacy Alumna Inducted Into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni | |
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Patricia Devitt Risse, an alumna of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, whose innovative work in cancer treatment has helped bring to market a wide range of new cancer drugs that save lives, was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 25.
Risse, who has devoted much of her 35-year career to testing oncology drugs, including founding an award-winning successful company, is known as an early proponent of precision oncology — the idea that physicians can customize a cancer treatment based on the individual patient’s genetic profile.
Learn more about the inductee.
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Rutgers Health and RWJBarnabas Health Receive Grant to Train Health Professionals and Improve Care
Thanks to a $4,237,500 grant, Rutgers Health and RWJBarnabas Health will establish a state Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research Center.
In a Learning Health System, internal data and experience are systematically integrated with external evidence, and that knowledge is put into practice to improve care.
The center will recruit scientists and health care professionals and support their professional development by strengthening institutional research training and partnerships, conducting research, and implementing innovations that improve health outcomes and health equity in the state.
Read More
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CDC Sharply Overestimates Maternal Death Rate, New Study Finds
According to an analysis by researchers in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and other universities, maternal death rates in the United States may be sharply overstated as a result of faulty surveillance techniques.
These techniques have caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to estimate that maternal death rates have more than tripled over the last two decades, significantly more than other wealthy nations.
Read More
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More Research at Rutgers Health | |
NJMS launches a New Weight Management Center in Newark | |
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New Jersey Medicine School announced the launch of a multidisciplinary weight management center. Known as the Rutgers Weight Management Center, the hope is to provide a holistic approach to weight loss by bringing together medical and surgical services together with personalized care and support teams.
Learn more about the new Rutgers Weight Management Center.
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Providing Surgery With Impact
Discover how Assistant Professor Richard Yim at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine is leading a transformative initiative in facial feminization surgery, collaborating with Rutgers doctors and the Rutgers Center for Transgender Health to offer this deeply personal procedure more regularly. Beyond the technical aspects, this surgery fosters alignment between appearance and gender identity, profoundly impacting patients' lives.
Read More
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Rutgers Health Hosts Distinguished Preceptor Appreciation Event
In January, Rutgers Health hosted the inaugural Rutgers Health Distinguished Preceptor Appreciation Event. More than 200 people registered for the event, which celebrated honorees for their teaching excellence and contributions to the interprofessional mission of Rutgers Health. The theme of the event was "Identifying and Addressing Inequities in Care for People with Disabilities" and recognized five Rutgers Health preceptors for their extraordinary contributions. See who was recognized.
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Defender of the Marginalized Named 2024 School of Public Health Graduation Speaker
Khiara M. Bridges is a law professor, anthropologist, and nationally recognized expert on the intersection of race, class and reproductive rights who has also testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the legal consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Bridges has been named the 2024 Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg Award Recipient by the Rutgers School of Public Health. Bridges will also serve as the school’s 41st graduation speaker.
Learn more about the school’s highest honor for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to public health through a significant record of advocacy, the development of programs and capacity building that has led to expanded research, education and service opportunities.
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Congratulations to the following individuals who were named the next class of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows: | |
Maureen Barr, distinguished professor, Graduate Programs in Molecular Biosciences, School of Arts and Sciences
Kathleen Scotto, vice chancellor for research, Rutgers Health, and dean, Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Gary Aston-Jones, director, Brain Health Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
M. Maral Mouradian, vice chancellor for faculty development, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Christopher Rongo, professor, Waksman Institute of Microbiology, School of Arts and Sciences
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Year Two: Strategic Plan Updates
Rutgers Health celebrated the second anniversary of its strategic plan, "OneRBHS: The Way Forward," marking a year of pivotal transitions and progress towards becoming a leading academic health center.
Major highlights include adopting a new identity, celebrating our founding in 2014 and forging a stronger future for healthcare education and innovation.
Explore the Progress Report
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Rutgers Health in the News | |
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Take a moment and let us know what type of content you'd like to see in future issues of the Rutgers Health Hub newsletter.
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