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Dear RARC Community,
This week marks the one-year anniversary of my joining Rutgers to launch the Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC). I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each of you for making the past year such a wonderful experience. I am excited about what we are building together, and this is only the beginning!
We have accomplished much in our first year: a series of town hall meetings to exchange ideas about the development of the RARC; the spring Meet and Greet at the Rutgers Club, which >100 of you attended (and stayed until they kicked us out of the venue!); the launch of our website, social media channels, listserv, and hiring of the RARC communication coordinator; our fall symposium, featuring research from RARC researchers across the translational spectrum; a trainee appreciation night, to both recognize the important work of our trainees and collect their input; the launch of the RARC speaker series, with virtual and in-person options; the initiation of the first round of RARC pilot grants; and the submission of the Rutgers-wide opioid settlement fund proposal.
This year will bring more exciting developments. The RARC has four faculty searches on-going across the domains of Basic Science; Epidemiology, Etiology & Prevention, Treatment & Recovery, and Public Policy. We have identified many promising candidates and will be hosting ~15 individuals for virtual and in-person interviews this semester. With that in mind, the overwhelming majority of you voted to cancel our internal speaker series this semester to allow time to participate in candidate talks and interviews. Simultaneously running this many searches is a herculean effort, and I am tremendously grateful to all of you who are participating in the process by serving on the search committees, helping us identify promising candidates, attending talks, meeting with candidates, and providing your feedback. We will also be hosting our first philanthropy event in March in collaboration with the RBHS development team, a table at Rutgers Day in April to further community connections, and a one-year anniversary RARC celebration in May. We continue to build out resources to support research and training, and we always welcome your input on how the RARC can better support you.
None of this would have been possible without the RARC leadership team who have worked tirelessly to get these initiatives off the ground. I am also immensely grateful to Rutgers leadership for recognizing addiction as a priority area for growth and generously supporting the RARC, and to each of you, who advance our understanding of addiction, transform lives, and make our community the wonderful place that it is. Thank you for a great first year together.
With gratitude,
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