June 24, 2022
The latest news and updates from Interim Dean Robert L. Johnson!
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Volunteer Faculty Awards Celebrates Excellent Educators
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Volunteer faculty were celebrated during a virtual awards program on June 22. Medical education truly wouldn’t be possible without this group of dedicated clinicians who welcome students and residents into their practices, mentoring and teaching them to become excellent physicians.
Please congratulate the volunteer faculty members on their dedication to student learning. See the list of awardees here.
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Dr. Nell Maloney Patel is the First Female to be Named Clinical Full Professor in Surgery
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Nell Maloney Patel, MD, program director of the general surgery residency, was appointed to full professor of surgery, the first female appointed to clinical full professor in the department.
Dr. Maloney Patel has been active in surgical education with a focus on resident education since her own residency. After graduation from fellowship in 2007, she joined the faculty at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She started as director for simulation in 2008 and created novel cost-effective simulation models using equipment commonly found in the hospital. In 2008, Dr. Maloney Patel was appointed associate program director for education and in this role, she modernized the didactic curriculum and updated the simulation experience for residents. In 2017, she became program director for the General Surgery Residency.
Says Dr. Maloney Patel, “I am proud of the innovative curricular elements that I have brought to the General Surgery Residency Program. Two highlights are a formalized leadership curriculum as well as difficult conversation curriculum that involved collaboration with Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts.”
Congratulations, Dr. Maloney Patel, on your appointment!
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Young Father Receives the Gift of Life with a Heart Transplant
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Despite an active lifestyle and watching his diet, Nandan Savalia suffered a heart attack during a cardio boot camp class in June 2018 at age 45. The heart attack caused severe damage to his heart, which launched a three-year journey that would end happily with a life-saving transplant in August 2021 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH).
After the heart attack, Savalia was referred to the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Program at RWJUH to be evaluated by a multidisciplinary team led by Medical Director Deepa Iyer, MD, assistant professor of medicine, and Hirohisa Ikegami, MD, assistant professor of surgery and surgical director of the Heart Transplant Program at RWJUH. Following evaluation, Nandan was placed on the heart transplant waiting list.
Finally, on August 18, he received the news he waited so long to hear: a donor heart had been found and it was a perfect match. Dr. Ikegami successfully performed the transplant. “My team of doctors did a great job,” Nandan said. “There is a reason that many in the hospital say that Dr. Ikegami has the hand of God.”
Savalia, now 49 years old, logs around 10,000 steps every day. He was able to celebrate his first Father's Day with a new heart and is hoping that after the one-year anniversary of the procedure this August, he's permitted to travel outside the country with his family, as he used to do, and increase his physical activity.
Read more about Savalia's story here.
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Dr. Paul Copeland and an International Team Reveal Structures Unique in Biology
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Paul Copeland, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, is part of an international team that has determined the process for incorporating selenium – an essential trace mineral found in soil, water, and some foods that increases antioxidant effects in the body – to 25 specialized proteins, a discovery that could help develop new therapies to treat a multitude of diseases from cancer to diabetes.
The research, detailed in Science magazine, includes the most in-depth description yet of the process by which selenium gets to where it needs to be in cells, which is crucial for many aspects of cell and organismal biology. First, selenium is encapsulated within selenocysteine (Sec), an essential amino acid. Then, Sec is incorporated into 25 so-called selenoproteins, all of them key to a host of cellular and metabolic processes.
Understanding the workings of these vital mechanisms in such a detailed manner is critical to the development of new medical therapies, according to researchers. Dr. Copeland and the team were able to visualize the cell mechanisms by using a specialized cryo-electron microscope, which uses beams of electrons rather than light to form three-dimensional images of complex biological formations at nearly atomic resolution.
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Dr. Jeanne Ferrante Publishes Study on Male HPV-related Cancer Incidence and Outcomes by Race/Ethnicity
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Jeanne M. Ferrante, MD, MPH, professor of family medicine and community health and director, New Jersey Primary Care Research Network, published a study in the Annals of Cancer Epidemiology, along with first author and recent medical school graduate Seiichi Villalona, MD. The research is the largest population-based study to date examining racial/ethnic disparities in incidence, stage at diagnosis, survival, and mortality of human papillomavirus Virus (HPC)-related oropharyngeal cancer among males across the U.S.
According to Dr. Ferrante, HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer among males has surpassed cervical cancer as the most prevalent HPV-associated cancer in the U.S., with the majority of cases diagnosed at late stage. However, little attention has been paid to HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer among males.
While incidence rates of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer have remained stable for racial/ethnic minority groups from 2005-2016, rates of late-stage cancer increased more than 50 percent among non-Hispanic white males. The study found that although Hispanic and Black males were not more likely to have late-stage diagnosis, they had higher death rates from oropharyngeal cancers associated with HPV that was not explained by stage at diagnosis or treatment modality.
Researchers suggest public health campaigns are needed to increase awareness of HPV, its link to oropharyngeal cancer, and to promote uptake of HPV vaccinations in adolescent and young adult males.
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Pediatrics Presents Annual Clinical Faculty Award Recipients
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The Department of Pediatrics presented its 2022 Annual Clinical Faculty Awards to the following faculty members:
Clinical Award for Excellence in Collaboration and Teamwork
Steven Horwitz, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (left)
Clinical Award for Excellence in Quality and Safety
Amisha Malhotra, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Clinical Award for Excellence in Service and Professionalism
Amisha Malhotra, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Alan Weller, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Congratulations to the team!
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Save the Date for White Coat Ceremony on July 22
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Save the date for White Coat Ceremony on Friday, July 22 at 2 p.m. at the State Theatre. The ceremony is the culmination of a week-long orientation for the incoming class. During the event, faculty and staff will officially welcome students into the medical school community, assist them into their white coats, and recite the Hippocratic Oath together.
The event will be live-streamed, but faculty and staff may obtain a ticket to attend in person by emailing Lauren Marshall. We hope to see you there!
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Social Media Post of the Week
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rwjms As CEO of the Henry J. Austin Health Center in Trenton, alumna Dr. Kemi Alli is continually asking, “How can we make things better for the most amount of people.” She helps improve the quality of life for the more than 18,000 people who walk through the federally funded health center’s door every year. In her tenure, she has transformed the health center’s budget, adding services and care to Trenton’s most vulnerable population.
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-- Subhajyoti De, PhD, and Shridar Ganesan, MD, PhD -- Onclive
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Dept. of Communications and Public Affairs | Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
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Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
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