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Author: Dennis J. Power

Celebrate National Doctors’ Day on March 30

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

Take a moment and consider the role doctors have played in your life. If you’re a grateful patient or a friend or family member of someone who is happier and healthier because of a doctor, Rutgers Health invites you to make a gift in honor of that physician. On March 30, please join the Rutgers community in celebrating National Doctors’ Day.

As providers of compassionate patient care, Rutgers doctors continue to work in an environment of heightened risk. Their health and wellbeing, as well as the safety of their colleagues and families, is vital as they drive medical breakthroughs and deliver life-saving treatments in our communities.

The hope that COVID-19 will fall from a pandemic level to a more manageable framework of disease control remains strong. However, the spread of the coronavirus continues to affect our state, nation, and world. It is more important than ever to empower trained medical professionals and celebrate their ongoing efforts, vigilance, and sacrifices.

Likewise, the physicians and care teams at Rutgers Health are steadfast in their commitment to support patients. With your investment in Rutgers Health, you help offer high-quality health care and transformational advancements that improve lives and better our world. As one of the leading academic health and research centers in the country, Rutgers is truly shaping the future of human health, innovation, and discovery.

Rutgers in the News: Endemic Covid, Robotic Heart Procedure, and Workplace Cautions

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

Is the COVID-19 pandemic becoming endemic in New Jersey and, if so, what will that mean? Stanley Weiss, a professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, talks with NJ 101.5 FM about the virus’s future. “We’ve seen an incredible ability [of the virus] to mutate and therefore I don’t think we’re out of the woods in terms of variants that we’ll be seeing, which gives it the opportunity to blossom out once again.”

New Jersey 101.5 | The pandemic continues, but is COVID an endemic disease in NJ?

NJBIZ reports that Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have deployed the first FDA-approved robotic telecardiac ultrasound technology in the United States. Partho Sengupta, professor of cardiology at RWJMS, says making advanced diagnostic imaging capabilities available to patients in remote locations may be a game changer. “In the very near future, we can connect with a sonographer at another hospital or from [the patient’s] home to perform a cardiac ultrasound exam that could be lifesaving.”

NJBIZ | RWJUH, Rutgers medical school deploy telecardiac ‘gamechanger’

The way hiring managers talk about success can reveal a lot about how employees advance, says Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations professor Rebecca Greenbaum in a recent HuffPost story. “Does the prospective employer talk about rewards as if it is a fixed pie—[as if] there will be winners and losers in terms of securing desired outcomes?” asks Greenbaum. “This may suggest that employees are pitted against one another as they try to stand out for advancement and reward purposes.”

HUFFPOST | 6 Signs Of A Toxic Job You Can Spot During Your Interview

Saladin Ambar GSNB’08, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, writes in the Star-Ledger about a powerful but often overlooked moment involving the late actor Sidney Poitier after the 1963 March on Washington. Poitier, Ambar writes, delivered “a message to us all that a life well-lived, including life within the larger struggle for racial justice, needn’t be the loudest or the most visible.”

NJ.com | Black History Month: Sidney Poitier’s overlooked moment from the March on Washington | Opinion

 

Studying the Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 in Children

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) is projected to receive approximately $30 million, establishing a critical partnership with the larger National Institutes of Health-funded RECOVER initiative to study long-term and delayed impacts of COVID-19 in children and lead a national collaboration with the potential to recruit from any state to investigate these outcomes.

Impacts of infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2 that present or persist more than 30 days are collectively referred to as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).

Among the first PASC recognized is Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a severe acute inflammatory illness, which typically begins unexpectedly about a month after the initial infection. Children with MIS-C have fever and other symptoms that may include inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, circulatory system and skin that sometimes mimic another rare illness, Kawasaki’s Disease. Beyond MIS-C, children are also susceptible to what is commonly referred to as “long COVID.” A team of researchers at Rutgers have studied COVID-19 and MIS-C from shortly after it was first described in the United States.

“Children and adolescents are susceptible to long-term symptoms. Some have brain fog. Others lose their stamina and with it their ability to participate in athletic activities. We are still learning what long COVID may look like in children, as well as in adults. Pain, headaches, fatigue, anxiety, depression, fever, cough and sleep problems have all been reported,” said Lawrence Kleinman, a professor and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at RWJMS and a professor of global public health at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead investigator for the Collaborative Long-term study of Outcomes of COVID-19 in Kids (CLOCK) consortium at Rutgers. The CLOCK team will recruit children, adolescents and young adults from across the United States into the NIH’s RECOVER cohort study.

“CLOCK will make essential contributions to the RECOVER Cohort’s ability to identify the nature of PASC, what makes children susceptible to PASC and ultimately what we can do to prevent and treat this frightening and potentially debilitating condition in children, as well as in adults,” Kleinman said.

CLOCK was developed collaboratively with a variety of prominent organizations, most of which are expected to participate in the four-year research study. CLOCK partners include the American Academy of Pediatrics and its PROS Research Network, the American Academy of Family Physicians and its National Research Network, along with its partner the DARTNet Institute, Family Voices — a national grassroots organization that advances partnerships with parents, and distinguished pediatric institutions such as Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Bristol Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, Central Michigan University, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children’s Mercy Hospital of Kansas City, Connecticut Children’s, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health, MetroHealth System (Cleveland), New York Medical College/Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, RWJ Barnabas Health, University of California, San Francisco and the Yale University School of Medicine.

Several of the CLOCK partners also join Rutgers as colleagues in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Predicting Viral-Associated Inflammatory Disease Severity in Children with Laboratory Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence (PreVAIL kIds) initiative. PreVAIL kIds is part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Radical (RADx-rad) program and seeks to develop and validate translational tools to predict which children with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are most likely to experience severe illness such as pneumonia or MIS-C.

“This scientifically rigorous and collaborative approach allows us to research a diverse group of children and their parents or caregivers as participants, which is critical to informing the treatment and prevention of the long-term effects of COVID-19,” Kleinman said.

Data from the RECOVER Cohort will include clinical information, laboratory tests and analyses of participants in various stages of recovery following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The full RECOVER Cohort will include adults, pregnant individuals and children; enroll patients during the acute, as well as post-acute, phases of the SARS-CoV-2 infection; evaluate tissue pathology; analyze data from millions of electronic health records; and use mobile health technologies, such as smartphone apps and wearable devices, which will gather real-world data in real time. In addition to hubs like Rutgers/CLOCK, the RECOVER study is supported by cores such as those for clinical sciences (NYU Grossman School of Medicine), data resources (Massachusetts General Hospital) and a biorepository (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine).

Those interested in the work of the CLOCK consortium can email clockrecover1@rwjms.rutgers.edu.

For more information about the NIH RECOVER Initiative go to https://recovercovid.org/.

Story originally appeared in Rutgers Today.

 

Carrying the Torch

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

For Samuel Okparaeke, education wasn’t simply a personal goal. It was part of a lifelong mission to uplift and empower his loved ones and community. A graduate of the master’s program at Rutgers University–Newark’s School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) and a former career development teacher at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Okparaeke SPAA’13 dedicated the last 20 years of his life to public service in Essex County, New Jersey. On Christmas Eve 2020, Okparaeke passed away suddenly at the age of 51. In honor of his legacy, a group of fellow Rutgers alumni and friends has launched the Samuel Okparaeke Scholarship Fund to uplift future public servants.

Okparaeke was born in Cameroon and raised in Nigeria. His parents worked hard to move the family to the United States, where Okparaeke earned a bachelor’s degree from Jersey City State University (he would go on to earn his master’s at Rutgers 20 almost years later.) The oldest of seven children, Okparaeke devoted himself to caring for his family. “He helped put all of his siblings through college,” says Amina Bey, a fellow graduate of SPAA’s master’s program and a beloved friend of Okparaeke. “He worked multiple jobs so his parents wouldn’t be overburdened with tuition debt. It was important to him.”
Even as he worked hard to help his family, Okparaeke also committed himself to his community. “He went back to Nigeria all the time,” Bey SPAA’13 says. “Sam and his family helped provide support for medical care for local residents. They assisted with the education of local children and helped those who could not afford school uniforms and things like that. He was very, very connected to his community back home in Nigeria—as well as his community here in New Jersey.”

Bey spent 20 years working alongside Okparaeke in public service—namely social services and economic development—in Essex County. “Sam was my partner in Workforce Development and one of my closest friends,” she says. Okparaeke helped create a variety of community programs that are still in place today, including a job search program and the design of the Essex County One-Stop workforce delivery system, which offers career counseling and vocational training, among other services. At the time of his passing, Okparaeke held three positions simultaneously: Executive Director of the Essex County Workforce Development Board, Essex County One-Stop Operator, and Executive Director of the Essex County Office of Small Business Development and Affirmative Action. “The fact that Sam literally held three positions when he passed speaks to his level of dedication to Essex County and his employees,” says Dean of Rutgers–Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration Charles E. Menifield. “He personified the sort of work ethic and dedication that we espouse at SPAA, acting as a great role model for all of our students.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Okparaeke worked tirelessly to support individuals and businesses devastated by the crisis. Many small businesses are open and thriving today because of his dedication to supporting those with limited resources.

Now Sam’s friends are carrying the torch to lead a fundraising effort for the Samuel Okparaeke Scholarship Fund. Like Okparaeke himself, the fund will support education, individuals, and the broader community. The scholarship will consist of an annual $25,000 award, to be distributed to SPAA students intent on a career in local government, particularly social/human services, workforce development, or economic development. The Scholarship Committee hopes the funds can support students from disenfranchised neighborhoods who might otherwise have to bury themselves under student loan debt or work several jobs to afford their degrees. “Sam believed that you shouldn’t have to mortgage your future in order to get an education, and we agree,” Bey says.

Joining in this effort are other longtime friends and colleagues of Okparaeke, including several SPAA graduates, who were very close to Sam and had a special relationship with him. The Samuel Okparaeke Scholarship Committee consists of Keisha Flemming, Danny Denise Gonzalez-Bosques SPAA’13, TaQuisha Knight SPAA’13, Art Cifelli, Bhavna Tailor, Arthur Jorge, and Anibal Ramos, Jr. NCAS’97.

The group is devoted to sustaining and growing the fund for years to come. Not only does the committee hope to raise far beyond $25,000 down the road, but they also envision a future in which students who receive support from the fund assist with fundraising down the line. The Samuel Okparaeke Scholarship Fund Committee wants to continue to pay it forward and lead by Sam’s example, hoping that others will follow in his footsteps.

How the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services Changes Lives

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

Amy Gravino was diagnosed at age 11 as being on the autism spectrum.

It was decades ago, when, she said, the word didn’t mean much. She was teased by classmates and told by a school official that she would never graduate high school, let alone college.

“I only knew that I was different, and different was not acceptable as the world was frequently sure to let me know. At every turn I had people telling me who I was,’’ Gravino said Wednesday during the dedication ceremony for the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services (RCAAS), a facility that opened on the Douglass campus earlier this year to serve adults with autism spectrum disorder through vocational, academic and recreational programs.

But now Gravino can define herself as an advocate, public speaker, writer, colleague, daughter and friend.

The goal of the RCAAS is not to tell students on the spectrum who they are, but rather to allow them to be exactly who they are.

Amy Gravino

RCAAS Relationship Coach

“I am a relationship coach in the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, a place I only wish had existed when I was growing up,’’ she said. “It might have spared me from so many of the hardships that I faced navigating life after college.’’

Gravino shared her story Wednesday as state and university officials gathered to reflect on the significance of the center and its work.

Relationship coach Amy Gravino talked about her own experiences as an adult with autism spectrum disorder to illustrate the impact the RCAAS can have upon the lives of others through its inclusive environment.
John O’Boyle

“Today’s gathering reaffirms Rutgers’ commitment to be a national leader in the areas of research, professional training and practical services in support of adults with autism spectrum disorder,” said President Jonathan Holloway. “We celebrate much more than a structure. We celebrate the building of new awareness, new relationships and new dimensions of our community.”

The state-of-the-art building creates an inclusive environment for all and addresses a growing need in the state and beyond. Autism spectrum disorder affects one in 32 people in New Jersey and one in 54 people nationally.

“What we have accomplished here began about eight years ago with a vision, a vision for a better world for adults living with autism,” said Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway.

An estimated 50,000 children with autism “age-out” of the K-12 education system each year, with few options available to support their continued development.

“The problem is that people with autism do not have the opportunity to participate and succeed within our society in the way that it is currently arranged,” said RCAAS Executive Director Christopher Manente. “At Rutgers, we take an entirely different approach. We strive to demonstrate that all people with autism can succeed when they are embraced by a supportive community.”

At Rutgers, we take an entirely different approach. We strive to demonstrate that all people with autism can succeed when they are embraced by a supportive community.

Chris Manente

RCAAS Executive Director

The 10,000-square-foot facility was financed with philanthropic funds and is the first of its kind at a higher education institution in the United States. Among its amenities are vocational, social and life skills teaching areas, individual and group training rooms, a professional kitchen, recreational and common spaces, offices and meeting rooms.

The 10,000-square-foot facility was financed with philanthropic funds and is the first of its kind at a higher education institution in the United States.
John O’Boyle

Mel Karmazin, the former CEO of Sirius XM Radio, was a key fundraising leader for the project along with his daughter Dina Karmazin Elkins, executive director of the Karma Foundation. Her son, Hunter, was diagnosed with autism at age 2, and the Karma Foundation has been active in autism causes.

“All the programs that are housed here, along with what this building represents, are the result of so many people caring about the mission of a better life for adults with autism,” said Elkins. “The three-pronged mission of service, training and research is already in full-effect, even before this building, as the program has been open for a few years already.”

The building’s architectural strategy used nature and natural building materials and other features to make participants feel connected to the natural environment. Particular attention was paid to sensory impacts, such as using materials that reduce noise and alcoves with soft edges that allow for privacy.

Autism and autism spectrum disorder are among the fastest-growing developmental disabilities in the United States. Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology created the RCAAS in 2016 to address the well-documented shortage of quality services that help adults with autism lead meaningful and productive lives, and to conduct research that can inform the development of other programs for adults with autism.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Rutgers is leading the way again in ensuring that people with special needs are treated like everyone else and provided opportunities to reach their full potential,” said Senator Stephen M. Sweeney.

President Jonathan Holloway speaks with Lavinia Boxill and Mel Karmazin prior to Wednesday’s RCAAS Dedication Ceremony on the Douglass Campus.
John O’Boyle

RCAAS serves adults with autism by providing meaningful, paid employment and integration into the Rutgers community through its flagship Supporting Community Access through Leisure and Employment (SCALE) program. The center also provides individualized support services for Rutgers students on the autism spectrum through the College Support Program and assessment and psychological services for autistic adults through the Psychological Services Clinic.


 

For more information on each of the RCAAS’ distinct, yet collaborative units, visit their brand-new website at Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services and facebook.com/RutgersCAAS for frequent center updates and highlights.

Story originally appeared in Rutgers Today.

Rutgers-Led Study Finds New Jersey’s Tidal Marshes in Danger of Disappearing

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

New Jersey’s tidal marshes aren’t keeping up with sea level rise and may disappear completely by the next century, according to a study led by Rutgers researchers.

The findings, which include potential solutions for preserving the marshlands, appear in the journal Anthropocene Coasts. The research team’s study follows its 2020 report on the same issue for the Science Advisory Board of New Jersey’s State Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP.)

“Faced with sea level rise, a marsh has two options — it can either increase its elevation at a rate equal to that of sea level rise or it can migrate inland,” said lead author Judith Weis, a professor emerita of biological sciences at Rutgers-Newark. “Otherwise, it will be submerged and drown.”

Tidal marshes –where the oceans meet the land and become vulnerable to sea level rise — are vital habitats for many aquatic organisms, such as fishes, crabs and shrimp, as well as birds and mammals and provide a buffer against storm surges, winds and flooding. They also absorb pollutants such as toxic metal; nitrogen, which reduces algal blooms and carbon dioxide and contributes to climate change.

The research team reviewed previous studies of coastal marsh systems in New Jersey, focusing on the Meadowlands, Raritan Bay, Barnegat Bay and Delaware Bay. For each marsh system, they examined horizontal changes – changes in marsh area over time – and vertical changes in elevation.

For the Meadowlands, the researchers couldn’t determine losses to sea level because due to the extent of human development on the marshes. For the Raritan Bay, they found no published data and little evidence that marsh area is being lost.

But they found that Barnegat Bay has lost a large amount of area to erosion, and Delaware Bay has similarly had considerable erosion from the edges, although those losses have been compensated for by inland migration of the marshes into coastal areas. The march migration, however, is causing “ghost forests,” where many trees have died due to sea water intrusion. Such migration isn’t possible in more developed parts of the state, where roads and buildings immediately inland of the marshes act as barriers.

The researchers found that most marshes throughout the state are not increasing their elevation as rapidly as the sea level is rising, which was 5-6 mm/year as of 2019 when the last data were collected. The rate of sea level rise in the mid-Atlantic is higher than the worldwide average for various geophysical reasons.

The only marshes elevating substantially faster than the rate of sea level rise were two marshes in the Meadowlands dominated by the common reed Phragmites australis, an invasive plant that reduces plant diversity in tidal marshes.

Bulletin of the New Jersey Academy of Sciences (Kennish et al. 2016)

The team looked at four strategies to mitigate the loss of New Jersey’s marshes. First, they would encourage municipalities to buy and demolish houses that prevent marshes from migrating inland. Such a “managed retreat” program would be expensive and likely face political and social opposition.

Under the second strategy, marshland managers would remove fewer invasive reeds, which are currently killed using toxic herbicides and replaced with native cordgrass when funding is available. Although the reeds slightly reduce biodiversity, they have some benefits, such as absorbing pollutants, nitrogen and carbon dioxide more effectively than native marsh grasses. The reeds, which are denser and taller than native grasses, also are a better buffer against flooding and enable marshes to elevate faster. When they die, they create more dead plant material that doesn’t decay as rapidly as other marsh plants, which traps more sediments that enable the marsh to elevate more rapidly.

“Some reeds should be left on the marsh surface to give the marsh a better chance of keeping up with sea level rise,” said Weis. “This will be controversial and likely opposed by many marsh managers, which will require a revolutionary change in marsh management.”

The third strategy would involve adding new sediments on top of marshes that are not elevating as fast as they need to. One such method called “thin layer deposition” involves spraying sediment from creeks up onto the marsh surface. This experimental method is being tried at sites in South Jersey and shows promising results. A symptom of a marsh “in trouble” is retaining water on the marsh surface at low tide. This “ponding” can kill grasses adapted to being under water only periodically. Digging narrow channels, called “runnels,” from ponded areas to nearby tidal creeks can help drain the water.

The fourth strategy, called “living shorelines,” would involve experimental techniques to slow erosion at the edge of a marsh. Harder materials, preferably oyster or mussel reefs but sometimes concrete blocks, can be placed in front of the marsh edge to shield waves that erode the marsh edge. These techniques are being tested in several locations in the Delaware Bay and are yielding valuable information on suitable locations and materials.

The study’s authors include Weis, Elizabeth Watson of Drexel University, Elizabeth Ravit of Rutgers’ Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability, Charles Harman of Wood Environmental, and Metthea Yepsen of the NJDEP.

Story originally appeared in Rutgers Today.

Lavinia Boxill Named Interim President of the Rutgers University Foundation

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

Lavinia Boxill will serve as interim president of the Rutgers University Foundation (RUF) while the search for a new president is ongoing, Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway announced.

Boxill will also serve as executive vice president for development and alumni engagement. The Rutgers Board of Governors today approved the interim appointment, effective May 21, following approval by the Rutgers University Foundation Board of Directors.

After seven years as the RUF president, Nevin Kessler is stepping down from the position.

“I know I speak for so many members of the university community in acknowledging Nevin’s contribution to the Rutgers University Foundation and the many accomplishments that were achieved under his leadership,” Holloway said. “I am grateful for his years of service and wish him the best as he starts his next chapter.”

During Kessler’s tenure, the foundation successfully completed its first billion-dollar fundraising campaign, and the university’s endowment nearly doubled – from $784 million to $1.5 billion – while participation by donors large and small grew significantly.

Boxill, who continues to serve on the search committee for a new RUF president, has been the vice chancellor for advancement for Rutgers-New Brunswick since 2018, overseeing fundraising and alumni engagement for the university’s largest campus. She began her career at Rutgers in 1996 as the director of development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Newark and was later named the foundation’s assistant vice president for development. Her responsibilities have included managing annual giving, athletic development, and research and prospect management.

“It is a privilege to assume the role of interim president and executive vice president for development and alumni engagement,” Boxill said. “I look forward to continuing to advance the work of the foundation and the critical role of private philanthropy to support the university’s mission of changing lives and bettering society through excellence in education, research and service.”

Holloway thanked Boxill for stepping in to serve in the interim role.

“I look forward to working closely with Lavinia to ensure the business of the foundation continues well through this transition period,” he said.

 

Story originally appeared in Rutgers Today.

Seeding the Future

Posted on by Dennis J. Power

After Norman Schnayer GSNB’79, a former botany professor and provost at Rutgers University–Newark, passed away last year, his family wanted to give back to the Rutgers community in a way that honored his profound love of learning. Their generous $10,000 gift to Rutgers–Newark in Schnayer’s memory establishes a scholarship to support students who study plant science so that they, too, may learn new skills, pursue new knowledge, and explore their passions.

Now, Schnayer’s zest for learning will live on through his family’s gift and in the many students he taught over his long career. It was a career characterized by his devotion to Rutgers and his willingness to learn new skills at any age. His diverse interests included gardening, reading, playing tennis, woodworking, cooking, playing the clarinet, and traveling. He loved sharing and discovering knowledge about everything from algae to the eradication of smallpox.

Anyone in the community who is moved to offer a gift in Schnayer’s memory is invited to contact Patricia Margulies, assistant dean for development, at patricia.margulies@rutgers.edu.