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May 29, 2020

The latest news and updates from Interim Dean Robert L. Johnson!

An inexpensive and readily available saline solution can be used to safely store and transport coronavirus samples and help resolve a nationwide shortage of the solution needed to complete COVID-19 testing, according to a study by c o-lead investigator Martin Blaser, MD , professor of medicine.

In the  study ,  investigators report that phosphate buffered saline — a simple salt solution commonly found in hospitals and clinical laboratories — can be used as a virus transport medium for up to 18 hours to reliably send coronavirus-contaminated specimens to the testing laboratory.

Recognizing that viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can remain stable on certain surfaces for up to three days, the researchers believe that the inexpensive and commonly available salt solution could be used instead of the complex and hard-to-obtain viral medium and increase testing and transport throughout the country at a lower cost.

Read more about the study at Rutgers Today .

Alumni Association Board Member Joseph P. Costabile, MD , has been fighting COVID-19 on the front lines. A vascular surgeon and captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Dr. Costabile was deployed to Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn, a 320-bed public facility that converted most of its wards into makeshift intensive care units to treat the surge of coronavirus patients.

Despite 15 years of service and medical deployments with the Armed Forces, Dr. Costabile says he never experienced anything like the five weeks he spent in the epicenter of the  COVID-19  crisis, calling the disease an “invisible enemy." He encountered “a nightmare” and “war-like conditions" at the Bedford–Stuyvesant hospital, sharing that the staff was overwhelmed, resources were inadequate and people were dying despite life-support measures, only to be replaced by a flood of new patients needing to be placed on ventilators and dialysis.

Read more at NJ.com about Dr. Costabile’s experience fighting COVID-19.

The End of Year Report in the University's Performance Management System for non-aligned managers and non-aligned faculty and staff is due on June 30 . If you are interested in attending a virtual training class about preparing your evaluation, please click  here  to register for one of the training dates listed below. The webex link will be sent out in an invite prior to the class. 

William Welsh, PhD , professor of pharmacology, was one of three Rutgers researchers to receive the inaugural HealthAdvance Award to advance the commercialization of anti-cancer therapeutics. HealthAdvance provides up to $200,000 for a two-year period to support the development and de-risking of early-stage life sciences technologies with an impact on human health.

Guided by advanced  in silico  drug design tools, the research team including Dr. Welsh; Raymond B. Birge, PhD, New Jersey Medical School; and Youyi Peng, PhD, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, will use the award for developing a series of first-in-class oncology drugs known as pan-TAM (Tyro3, Axl, MerTK) kinase inhibitors, expected to possess dual modes of action. First, the oncology drugs would work as anti-cancer agents that act directly on cancer cells to eliminate the tumors and prevent them from metastasizing. They would also work as Immune-Oncology agents that activate a patient’s own adaptive immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells. 

Read more about the research here .

Anthony Lemaire, MD , associate professor of surgery, published a study in the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery suggesting that a delay in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for T-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients improves hospital morbidity and mortality.

Acute myocardial infarction is a major cause of death in middle-aged and elderly populations that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Primary percutaneous coronary intervention is the standard interventional treatment modality for managing patients with STEMI.



The optimal timing of CABG in patients with STEMI is unclear. The study evaluated and compared the outcomes in STEMI patients who underwent CABG within the various time intervals. The results suggest that despite the urgency and severity of STEMI, a delay of at least 24 hours before surgical revascularization may be beneficial to patient outcomes. Read more about the study here .

The student-run telemedicine initiative led by Abhishek Chouthai, Farsha Rizwan, Hamsitha Jhupali, Alec Webber, Kitae Chang, Anoushka Dua, Valeria Gershtyen and Daniel Levin , under the direction of Catherine Chen, MD , assistant professor of medicine , has roomed more than 1,900 patients virtually. The group has trained and implemented 210 medical student volunteers who have collectively worked 1,000 hours to date. 

 

The students’ work was spotlighted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) as the first to implement a program where first-year students help alleviate the COVID-19 induced health care workforce burden. Read more on the AAMC website .

Congratulations to this week’s Health Care Heroes at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

From l – r: Fran Yu, PhD, assistant professor of family medicine and community health; Ammar Al Akshar, MD, Department of Medicine fellow; Catherine Chen, MD, assistant professor of medicine; and Elyssa Thaler, advanced practice nurse, Division of Hospital Medicine.

You are invited to  nominate a member of the medical school community  as a Health Care Hero. To submit a nomination, complete a survey  here .

Shilpa Pai, MD, FAAP , associate professor of pediatrics, has been organizing and conducting webinars around COVID-related issues ("Ask the Doc," Mental Health and a Virtual House Call series) since April 1. 

 

Dr. Pai started these webinars through her work in the NJ Pediatric Residency Advocacy Collaborative (NJPRAC) and has given webinars with other community-based organizations. The webinars have had 50-200 participants and have even been translated to Spanish with medical school student volunteer Cassandra Soto . View recordings and upcoming sessions at the NJPRAC website .

 

Dr. Pai invites faculty, staff, residents and students to get involved with creating webinars by contacting her . 

The Emotional Toll: How These Neurology Departments Are Getting Through COVID-19 -- Suhayl Dhib-Jalbut, MD -- Neurology Today

The Beguiling Promise of CBD -- David L. Nathan, MD -- Real Simple

7 Biggest Coronavirus Mysteries No One Can Explain -- Reynold Panettieri, MD -- msn.com

Even Early On, Some Kids Did Not Fare Well From COVID-19 -- Lawrence C. Kleinman, MD, MPH , and Hariprem Rajasekhar, MD -- idse.net

What's the difference between a 2nd wave and 2nd peak of COVID-19? -- Lawrence C. Kleinman, MD, MPH -- Yahoo News

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