After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, the medical school's Scholarship Gala returned to huge success as it celebrated its 10th anniversary event. Nearly 300 attendees were on hand to help support scholarships for medical students and to celebrate the 2022 Gala Honorees:

One of the highest-grossing galas in the event's history, this year's fete also marked a record-grossing Silent Auction, raising $11,650 in winning bids from attendees.

Thanks to all of our generous sponsors, donors and attendees who helped make the event such a success, including RWJBarnabas Health, which was Scholarship Champion for the sixth consecutive year, providing an annual gift of $100,000 to support 10 scholarships for our students. Silver sponsors were Princeton Area Community Foundation, University Radiology Group, Johnson & Johnson, New Jersey Health Foundation, Saint Peter's Healthcare System and JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, while Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey supported the Gala as a Bronze Sponsor. In addition, the medical staff of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital made a $10,000 contribution.

A special thanks to all of the departments, faculty and staff who contributed baskets and other items to the Silent Auction; to Keith P. Lewis, RPh, MD, interim executive vice dean and chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, for the work he dedicated to the gala and auction with excellent results; and to Patricia M. Hansen, MS, chief of staff and executive director of public affairs, and the Department of Communications and Public Affairs team, who have tirelessly organized the Gala for each of its 10 years.

Thanks to this year's results and the efforts of those before them, the medical school is fast approaching $2.5 million in scholarship money raised through its Scholarship Gala!

COVID-19 vaccines taken by people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which affects millions worldwide, safely and effectively protects them from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a study by researchers from the medical school's Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

The comprehensive review, published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, focused on all studies describing the response of patients with IBD who were administered a COVID-19 vaccine.

"We wanted to demonstrate in a systematic way that the vaccines will safely protect our IBD patients from COVID-19," said study author Abhishek Bhurwal, MD, an Advanced IBD Fellow in the division. "Our systematic review and meta-analysis confirmed that the vaccines are safe and work well in our patients."

The study focused on four key aspects: the strength of IBD patients' immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine; the occurrence of breakthrough infections after taking the vaccine; the occurrence of adverse events to the vaccine; and whether differing IBD treatments affected vaccine effectiveness.

Learn more here.

A hormone that triggers puberty and controls fertility in humans might be developed as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to new research.

The study, appearing in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides powerful evidence that a modified version of the naturally occurring hormone kisspeptin can be used to treat NAFLD. Globally, NAFLD is the most common form of chronic liver disease that affects children and adults and is linked to the rise in obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Study lead investigator Moshmi Bhattacharya, PhD, associate professor of medicine (pictured right), has spent more than 15 years studying kisspeptin in health and disease. She and co-author Andy V. Babwah, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, initiated the study to decipher the roles of kisspeptin in the liver under healthy and obese conditions.

The study found kisspeptin helps reduce fat deposited in the liver and reverse more advanced disease, and uncovered a relationship between kisspeptin and the reduction of liver fat and fibrosis.

Learn more here.

Anna Zakusylo, a first-year medical student (pictured left with Rutgers Law School student Oleh Matviyishyn), is among the members of the Rutgers community who have family in Ukraine and are working to provide humanitarian help.

Zakusylo, whose father was born in Ukraine and mother in Moldova, has joined others packing boxes, gathering donations and joining protests and demonstrations to support Ukraine -- in between waiting for daily texts and phone calls from relatives still living in various parts of the country. Overall, volunteers at Rutgers have collected more than 600 pounds of donated goods shipped through Poland, which has taken in millions of refugees, to Lviv.

"It's what I can do from here," she said. "I keep asking my cousins how they are doing, and I can tell that they are trying to cope as best as they can. Instead of learning math or history they are learning tactical warfare and how to shelter from a missile attack."

Learn more in this Rutgers Today article.

Paul Copeland, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology (pictured left), and Gloria A. Bachmann, MD, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and associate dean for women's health, were elected to three-year terms on the Rutgers University Senate.

Dr. Bachmann currently serves on the Senate's Executive Committee as a Board of Trustees Faculty Representative and is a member of the Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee.

The Rutgers University Senate is a university-wide deliberative body consisting of representatives of Rutgers faculty, students, staff, administrators and alumni. Among the duties assigned by the university's Board of Governors, the Senate's responsibilities include establishing minimum standards respecting admission, scholarship and honors; regulating formal relationships among academic units within the university; recommending norms for teaching loads; and establishing the university calendar.

Congratulations, Dr. Copeland and Dr. Bachmann, and best of luck to you and the other medical school faculty, staff and student representatives currently serving on the University Senate!

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research is conducting a study on post-COVID fatigue involving adults with post-COVID fatigue, as well as those with a history of COVID-19 but no persistent fatigue.

To learn more about participating in the study, click on the flier image at right, or call 848-467-5515 or email [email protected].

Rutgers faculty and staff are invited to attend the upcoming Faculty & Staff of Color Reception on Monday, April 25, from 4 - 6 p.m. in the President's Tent in the Honor College's Courtyard. It will be an evening of networking and community building to continue conversations about how to best nurture a vibrant, inclusive community that supports the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff of color. Registration is limited, so register online now.

This inaugural event celebrates the life of Joseph R. Bertino, MD, former interim director and chief scientific officer of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and University Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. It will examine clinical, laboratory and translational research in the areas of cancer and hematologic disorders.

For more information and to register visit cinj.org/BertinoLecture or download the flier.

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Take a lesson from George W. Bush: Fund global COVID aid: Editorial -- Richard Marlink, MD -- The Star-Ledger/NJ.com

New COVID-19 subvariant picking up steam, but could struggle spreading in warmer months -- Reynold A. Panettieri Jr., MD -- Burlington County Times

Pregnant People May Be at a Much Higher Risk for Breakthrough COVID -- Todd S. Rosen, MD -- VerywellHealth

Assessing advances in cardiac ultrasound -- Partho P. Sengupta, MD -- HealthCare Business News magazine

Study: Video Game Therapy May Help Patients Recover from a Stroke at Home -- Igor Rybinnik, MD -- Health

Obesity can boost your risk of asthma -- Reynold A. Panettieri Jr., MD -- Knowridge Science Report

Development and preliminary validation of infrared spectroscopic device for transdermal assessment of elevated cardiac troponin -- Partho P. Sengupta, MD -- Communications Medicine

Birthing mothers with mother partners experience disparities in birth-related outcomes (Perspective) -- Justin S. Brandt, MD -- Healio

SARS-CoV-2 vaccine produces strong antibody response in IBD patients -- Abhishek Bhurwal, MD -- Healio

April is Roasacea Awareness Month -- Hilary Baldwin, MD -- Sharpologist

Perinatal Depression Can Recur -- But Screening and Treatment Can Help -- Gloria A. Bachmann, MD -- Health

Robotic Table and Serious Games for Integrative Rehabilitation in the Early Poststroke Phase: Two Case Reports -- Jasdeep S. Hundal, PsyD -- JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies

An Urgent Need for a Common Framework for the Articulation, Design and Reporting of Surgical System Strengthening Interventions; Comment on "Improving Access to Surgery Through Surgical Team Mentoring -- Policy Lessons from Group Model Building with Local Stakeholders in Malawi" -- Joseph S. Hanna, MD -- International Journal of Health Policy and Management

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