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In May, Rutgers Global Surgery, led by Gregory Peck, DO, assistant professor of surgery, and Joseph Hanna, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, alongside a group that included surgery fellows, general surgery residents and medical students, in partnership with Universidad de los Andes, Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota, as well as the Program in Global Surgery Social Change at Harvard Medical School, hosted, “Global Surgery in Latin America: Findings, Recommendations and Implementation of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery Indicators Data collection, analysis and interpretation.” The Bogotá, Colombia, meeting brought together experts from around the world, including hospital and university administrators, learners, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists and even Social and Ministry of Health representatives. The conference aimed to bring the important challenges in global surgery to the attention of new participants and strengthen support and collaborative relationships amongst existing advocates.

Additionally, the symposium provided tangible strategies for conducting research to shape policy intended to support the strengthening of surgical systems in the region. Drawing from lessons learned from other parts of the world and connections forged within Colombia, the meeting laid the foundation for ongoing partnerships to develop, disseminate and implement a National Surgical, Obstetrical and Anesthesia Planning framework in Colombia to achieve the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization’s decision-making body, resolutions 68.15 and 70.35. This effort seeks to achieve sustainable development goals and universal health coverage, ultimately becoming an example for other regions of Latin America. 

Those who represented Rutgers at the meeting, in addition to Dr. Peck and Dr. Hanna, who serve as co-chairs of the Latin American Indicator Research Collaboratory, included: medical students Gerardo Lopez, Shahyan Rehman, Charles Hamilton, Ardi Mendoza, John Dutton, and Marlena Sabatino; Rutgers Global Surgery fellows Rachel NeMoyer, MD, MPH, and Michael Scott, MD; and program supervisor Allissa Visconti, MPH.

The Rutgers University Board of Governors announced two significant appointments at its June meeting:

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School also has welcomed new faculty members. Read more about them here.

Congratulations to Marie Kleeman , resource coordinator, , in the Department of Communications and Public Affairs, ( second from left), who was honored with the Citizen of the Year Award by the Central District of the New Jersey State Elks Association. Marie, who is a member of Elks Lodge No. 2414 in Piscataway, was honored for outstanding voluntary service and her contributions to improving the local community. As a member of the Elks, Kleeman has led the coordination of service events for veterans, including at Parker at Landing Lane and Parker at River Road, local long-term senior care facilities, as well as community events such as the Soccer Shoot Out held annually in Piscataway.

Grants:

Daniel Pilch, PhD , professor of pharmacology, presented his research on the “Development of New Antibiotics for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Infections” to the Rutgers Board of Governors Health Affairs Committee in May.

Steven Libutti, MD, professor of surgery at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and director, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, was awarded a one-year supplement for $2,651,316, to his P30 grant from the National Institutes of Health “Cancer Center Support Grant.”

Sharon Manne, PhD , professor of medicine at the medical school and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, is the recipient of a five-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health for $2,727,939, to study “Facebook intervention for young onset melanoma patients and families.”

Omar Tliba, PhD , associate professor of medicine at the medical school and Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science, received a four-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate “Airway inflammatory pathways regulating glucocorticoid receptor phosphorylation” in the amount of $1,706,402.

Vikas Nanda, PhD , associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the medical school and the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, with lead principal investigator Paul Falkowski, PhD, Board of Governors' Professor of Marine, Earth and Planetary Sciences at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and their co-investigators were awarded the first year of a more than $5 million, five-year award from the NASA Astrobiology Institute to study “ENIGMA: Evolution of nanomachines in geospheres and microbial ancestors,” in the amount of $1,133,509 for year one.

Other noteworthy news:

Emanuel DiCicco-Bloom, MD , professor of neuroscience and cell biology, and pediatrics has been appointed chair for the Developmental Brain Disorders Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review for a two-year term.

M. Maral Mouradian, MD , William Dow Lovett Professor of Neurology, director of the Center for Neurodegenerative and Neuroimmunologic Diseases, and chief, Division of Translational Neuroscience at the medical school, and who was recently appointed RBHS Vice Chancellor for Faculty Development, has been invited to join the Scientific Review Committee of the Parkinson Study Group for a three-year term.

John B. Kostis, MD , J ohn G. Detwiler Professor of Cardiology , p rofessor of medicine, and director, Cardiovascular Institute of New Jersey, is co-author of a study published in The Lancet: Anand SS, Boxch J, Eikelboom JW, et al.; COMPASS Investigators (Kostis JB, Investigator). Rivarodxaban with or without aspirin in patients with stable peripheral or carotid artery disease: an international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2017 Nov 10. pii: S0140-6736(17)32409-1. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32409-1. [Epub ahead of print]

Read more research news here.

Faculty and staff from the Division of Addiction Psychiatry were in Washington, DC, this week to present at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's meeting of the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health , which comprises 21 members from eight federal agencies, including the United States Surgeon General, who chairs the committee, and five public members. Jill M. Williams, MD , professor and chief of addiction psychiatry, along with Deidre Stenard , a peer counselor with NJ CHOICES, a program of the division, presented during an afternoon session, "Notes From the Fields: Promising Practices. " Patricia Dooley Budsock, MA, LPC, CTTS , mental health clinician, also was in attendance .

The meeting was focused on “ Behavioral Health and Tobacco Control, ” with the goal of identifying federal actions to address disparities in tobacco use among behavioral health populations.

From left to right: Dr. Jill Williams, U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH , and Deirdre Stenard.

Get Tested on National HIV Testing Day, June 27

In recognition of June as Pride Month, the Robert Wood Johnson AIDS Program will host another HIV testing event on Thursday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at which visitors can receive free, confidential HIV testing and PrEP consultation. The event will be held at 89 French Street, New Brunswick; visitors should enter the building at the Plum Street entrance.

From left to right are medical students in the Class of 2021: Nanaama O'Hene, Marielle Jamgochian, Anup Regunathan and Akshay Desai.

Medical students who are members of HIPHOP's Community Health Initiative Steering Committee participated in New Brunswick Ciclovia on June 9. Ciclovia is a free, citywide initiative that closes the streets to cars and opens them to people, promoting healthy, active living through experiencing New Brunswick’s vitality, livability and diversity in a safe place for people to exercise and play. During Ciclovia, the city's streets are car-free for five hours, allowing families to run, walk, skate, ride bikes, enjoy active events along the route and explore the city streets. The students provided stuffed animal check-ups during the event.

On its Twitter account, the Universidad de Antioquia featured four rising second-year medical students, from left to right , Olivia Dahl, Neeket Patel, Christopher Eppel and Ardi Mendoza , who are conducting a summer rotation in Global Health at the university. The program is one of the dozens of international rotations available to our medical students through the Office of Global Health.

Read the original article in Spanish here and the translation in English here .

There are just a couple of weeks left for this academic year's programming. A featured Grand Rounds event next week is being hosted by the Department of Anesthesiology on Wednesday, June 20 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in CAB 3405. The title is " Enhanced Recovery After Surgery " with Supreet Grewal, MD , resident, and William Grubb, MD, DDS , associate professor in the department, as speakers.  

Congratulations also to our graduating residents and fellows!

Click here to view all upcoming CME activities.

-- Paul Weber, MD, RPh, MBA , associate dean, Continuing Medical Education

2018 Harvey E. Nussbaum, M.D. Distinguished Service Award -- American Heart Association -- Leonard Y. Lee, MD -- youtube.com

Promise of Faster, More Accessible Schizophrenia Diagnosis -- Steven Silverstein, PhD -- scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com