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Jan. 9, 2024

The medical school's Staff Council is hosting a service and outreach event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Volunteers are invited to join Staff Council members from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Elijah's Promise's Promise Culinary School in New Brunswick to prepare meals for patrons of its Community Soup Kitchen. Volunteers will be packing utensils and socks, and crafting inspirational messages for visitors of the Soup Kitchen, which has provided an essential service to the New Brunswick community for more than 30 years. In line with its motto, Food Changes Lives, Elijah's Promise serves more than 30,000 free nutritious meals each month.

Volunteers must register in advance at: https://rutgers.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5mWiS9EgFzC56Tz. This outreach event is limited to 50 volunteers; the sign-up form will close once 50 staff or faculty members have registered. A maximum of two guests, aged 16 and older, may join a faculty or staff member who is volunteering. Please register each guest individually. Additional information about the outreach event will be provided to volunteers following registration.

For more information, please reach out to Susan Giordano, Staff Council vice chair, at susan.giordano@rwjms.rutgers.edu or 732-235-4198.

At the end of 2023, Rutgers featured multiple members of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School community who helped inform policy change during the past decade that the school was part of Rutgers Health.

Maternal Health Awareness Day was founded in New Jersey through a collaborative effort led by Gloria A. Bachmann, MMS, MD, professor and director of the Women's Health Institute, and Patricia M. Hansen, MA, retired chief of staff and executive director of communications and public affairs, along with partners at the Tara Hansen Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Jersey Medical School and elected officials.

Dr. Bachmann has also led efforts to help fight disease transmission between humans and people through the New Jersey One Health Task Force.

Research conducted by alumnus Robert Laumbach, MD, MPH, associate professor, clinical research and occupational medicine at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, on the environmental effects of tractor trailers that indicated surging rates of asthma in residential neighborhood of Elizabeth, N.J., led to a city ordinance banning them.

Learn more about these initiatives, along with others that have helped advance the mission of Rutgers Health.

University Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, and director of the Institute for the Study of Child Development, Michael Lewis, PhD, has taken on the new role of Emeritus Professor as of Jan. 1, 2024. Dr. Lewis, born in January 1937, and having spent the last 43 years at Rutgers, will continue to write about the development of consciousness and its role in children's social and emotional development. His last book on the topic won the William James Award from the American Psychological Association. References to his work continue to place him in the top 1% of scholars studying child development.

Dr. Lewis' career was marked with a series of honors from his peers. He received the 2009 Urie Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society from the American Psychological Association, as well as the 2012 Hedi Levenback Pioneer Award from The New York Zero-to-Three Network for his pioneering research in child development. The Society for Research in Child Development awarded him the 2013 Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Child Development award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the scientific body of knowledge and understanding of children’s development. In 2016, Dr. Lewis was elected a Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) honoree for his contributions to behavior and brain sciences. More recently, in 2018 the International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS) awarded Dr. Lewis an inaugural Distinguished Contribution Award.

During the 43 years Dr. Lewis was on faculty, he was recognized with some of the major awards from the medical school and Rutgers University, starting in 1988 with the first University Excellence Award in Biomedical Research from the medical school. This was followed in 2009 by the Excellence in Research Award from the New Jersey Health Foundation, the 2013 R. Walter Schlesinger, MD Basic Science Mentoring Award from the medical school, and the 2015 Honorary Alumni Award from the medical school's Alumni Association. In 2019, he was awarded the Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research from Rutgers University, and most recently, he was awarded the 2023 Rutgers RBHS Chancellor Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award for his studies of human development.

Dr. Lewis may be contacted at his current email address.

Healthy people are needed to join a research study that investigates why certain genes increase the risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) only in select ethnic groups. You can help understand the inheritance patterns of IBD “risk genes” in your ethnic group.

To qualify, you must be:

• Adult ages 18 to 50
• Non-smoker, no or infrequent alcohol use
• Healthy – currently not on any medications with no history of chronic illnesses
• From one of the following ethnicities: West African or African American

Join by calling the number below to make an appointment. Allow 30-45 minutes of your time to answer some simple questions about your general health and ancestry and to draw about 3-1/2 tablespoons of your blood. You will be compensated for your time with a $60 gift card.

Please contact: IBD_genetics@rwjms.rutgers.edu or 732-235-6994 for more information. IRB Protocol# Pro20170001157, Principal Investigator: Steven Brant, MD, Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, and Hepatology, in the Department of Medicine.

• Martha C. Soto, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine (contact PI), and Gary Brewer, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, received a five-year multi-PI continuation of their K12 grant from the National Institutes of Health for the project “IRACDA at Rutgers: INSPIRE Postdoctoral Training Program” sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for $6,014,010. The Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) grant, now in its 12th year, supports an innovative training model that prepares postdoctoral trainees to excel as the next generation of scientist-educators, and supports the education and research environment at three public institutions – Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York; New Jersey City University and William Paterson University, both in New Jersey – that have a demonstrated commitment to educating undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in biomedical research careers. 

•  James H. Millonig, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience and cell biology at the medical school and the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, and senior associate dean in the Rutgers School of Graduate Studies (contact PI), together with Loren W. Runnels, PhD, professor of pharmacology, and Cynthia L. Blitz, PhD, research professor at the Graduate School of Education, received a five-year multi-PI R01 grant from the NIH for the project “Investigation of Professional Coaching as an Intervention to Support the Success of URG Biomedical Ph.D. Students,” sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in the amount of $3,065,129. This study looks to address the lack of diversity in the biomedical workforce by investigating whether individualized professional coaching, as an intervention, increases the success of biomedical PhD students from underrepresented groups, and their transition into sustained, productive careers.

• Martin J. Blaser, MD, Henry Rutgers Chair of the Human Microbiome, professor of medicine and microbiology at the medical school, and director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, together with MPI Emily Barrett, PhD, associate professor at the School of Public Health (contact PI); Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, PhD, professor of biochemistry and microbiology at the School of Environmental & Biological Sciences; and from the medical school, Daniel B. Horton, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, and Manuel Jimenez, MD, MS, FAAP, assistant professor of pediatrics and family medicine and community health, and Kristy Palomares, MD, PhD, perinatologist and principal research physician in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, received a two-year MPI UG30 grant from the NIH for the project “New Jersey ECHO,” sponsored by the Office of the Director at the NIH for $3,129,702.

• Vadim S. Ten, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, together with colleagues from Weill Cornell Medicine and New York University, received a new five-year R01 grant from the NIH for the project “Mitochondrial proton leak and neonatal brain injury” sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for $3,059,672.

• Mark Rossi, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the medical school, a resident member of the Child Health Institute of New Jersey and a member of the Brain Health Institute, received a new five-year R01 grant from the NIH for the project “Lateral Hypothalamic circuit dysfunction underlying the development of diet-induced obesity,” sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for $2,191,233.

• Brian Greer, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at the medical school and the Brain Health Institute, received a new five-year R01 grant for $1,903,915 from the NIH for the project “Motivational Refinements for Facilitating Reinforcement Schedule Thinning” sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.

• Subhajyoti De, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the medical school and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, received a new five-year R35 grant from the NIH for the project “computational genomic analysis of genomic variations in human tissues” sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for $1,785,875.

2024 Maternal Health Awareness

Interprofessional HYBRID Seminars on

Maternal Health and Safety

Friday, Jan. 26, 2024



Clinical Academic Building

Room 1302

125 Paterson Street

New Brunswick

In conjunction with Maternal Health Awareness Day in New Jersey (Jan. 23) -- the first state to formally recognize maternal health, safety and mortality issues with an annual event – the medical school, along with its partners, will promote the importance of this topic through educational events designed for EVERY member of the health care team.

Maternal Health Awareness Day was created through a proclamation signed by Governor Chris Christie in May 2017, in memory of Tara Hansen (pictured here with husband Ryan, and newborn Brandon in 2011) and all women who die from causes related to childbirth. N.J. First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy immediately became a champion for the cause upon entering office, and Governor Phil Murphy issued a proclamation recognizing the day in 2018.

This year's event will include a virtual poster/abstract presentation, as well as recognition of the pioneering faculty, staff, volunteers and elected officials who led the country in spotlighting the essential need to address maternal mortality through education and advocacy.

View details for the day's educational sessions and virtual viewing information.

Register before February 5, 2024

Full event details and event information can be found here.

Upcoming CME

Reframing Stress, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 8 - 9 a.m

Department of Emergency Medicine's Grand Rounds Annahieta Kalantari, DO, Vice Chair of Education and Medical Education Fellowship Director at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.  It will be held in the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, room 3101, and via Zoom. For virtual details, please contact Nirali Kelly.

Environmental Impact of Healthcare, Thursday, Jan. 11, 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.

Rutgers Health GME Grand Rounds will feature Catherine Chen, MD, assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine.  It will be held virtually via Webex. Please contact Dr. Christine Gerula for more information.

Single Port Robotics Learning Curve, Is the View Worth the Climb?

Wednesday, Jan. 17, 7 - 8 a.m.

The Department of Surgery's Division of Urology Grand Rounds will feature Sammy Elsamra, MD, associate professor of surgery. It will be held in hybrid format via Zoom (Password 963626) and in the Medical Education Building, Room 593. For more information, please contact Theresa Couzo.

Analyzing Access and Cost of Oral Medications for Overactive Bladder (OAB): Uncovering Disparities, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 8 - 9 a.m.

The Department of Surgery's Division of Urology Grand Rounds will feature Katherine Shapiro, MD, Partners in Urology of NJ, RWJ Barnabas Health. It will be held in hybrid format via Zoom (Password 963626) and in the Medical Education Building, Room 593. For more information, please contact Theresa Couzo.

Updates in Food Allergy, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 8 - 9 a.m.

The Department of Pediatric's Systemwide Grand Rounds will feature Jacqueline A. Ross, MD, Allergy and Immunology, Monmouth Medical Center. It will be held via Zoom. For more information, please contact Ashley Henriquez.

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and tag #rwjms in your posts!

Needy Cases 2023: 'Need is up and donations are down' at Elijah's Promise -- Soko Setoguchi, MD, MPH, DrPh -- Medical Dialogues

Your handy guide to the doctor appointments you should be making annually -- Alfred Tallia, MD, MPH -- Yahoo

7 Habits That Will Drastically Improve Your Energy Levels -- Alfred Tallia, MD, MPH -- Huffington Post (UK edition)

Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery, Methadone Treatment Linked to Less Drug Use -- Nina Cooperman, PhD -- hcplive.com

Inflammatory bowel disease varies by race, sex and birthplace, researchers find -- Lea Ann Chen, MD -- U.S. News & World Report; MedicalXpress; UPI; HealthDay

What Are the Health Benefits of Dry January? -- Danielle Dick, PhD -- The New York Times 

The year in aging: What we learned about getting older in 2023 -- William Hu, MD, PhD -- Yahoo

Extreme Heat and Hypoglycemia Risk in Older Insulin Users -- Aayush Visaria, MD -- Projin News (Korea), Medscape

Tirzepatide May Be Better For Weight Loss Than Semaglutide—But It's Complicated -- Kunal Shah, MD -- Yahoo

Which Is Better For Weight Loss? -- Kunal Shah, MD -- Health Reporter

Before implementing health systems science, do these 3 things -- Paul Weber, MD, RPh -- Health Reporter

How to make your period end faster -- Gloria Bachmann, MMS, MD -- singlecare.com

Older incarcerated women are often forgotten when we talk about menopause -- Gloria Bachmann, MMS, MD -- kjzz.org

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