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Published June 22, 2021

When should the land’s highest court perform a highwire balancing act and when should it come down decisively? How sincere are corporate participants in Pride Month? And will automation soon replace some medical technicians?

A recent decision favoring Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia indicates that the U.S. Supreme Court is walking a fine line between guaranteeing LGBTQA equality and expanding the exemption of religious organizations from some laws. Perry Dane, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Camden, tells the Wall Street Journal that the issue is not just “a conflict between religious exercise and LGBT equality. The key here is to appreciate that ‘compelling interests’ in the religious exemptions context are not measured in general but rather in the individual case or at the margin.”

Wall Street Journal | Supreme Court signals expansion of religious exemptions from laws

Jason DeAlessi SAS’17 writes an op-ed for the Star-Ledger on the need to develop cultural awareness of and respect for the LGBTQA community that goes beyond organizations showing “solidarity” on social media. DeAlessi, who is pursuing a master’s degree in public health at Rutgers, explains that Pride Month should be more than a corporate stunt and that society needs to work together to end LGBTQA-phobia. “Flying the Pride flag this month cannot be the ceiling of our accomplishments in validating LGBTQ+ individuals; it must be the floor,” writes DeAlessi.

NJ.com | Pride month must be more than a corporate PR stunt

A little-understood gastrointestinal condition known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, or SIBO, has a lot of overlapping symptoms with irritable bowel syndrome and similar conditions, says Lea Ann Chen, a professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. And while there’s a test for SIBO, its cause and treatment can be elusive. “We don’t always know what causes it,” Chen tells Women’s Health.

Women’s Health | What is SIBO? Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth symptoms, explained by doctors

Biomedical engineering researchers at Rutgers have developed a robot that uses sensors and artificial intelligence to efficiently draw blood. Martin Yarmush, a distinguished professor at Rutgers School of Engineering, aims to use this device to reduce issues that come with drawing blood, such as missing a patient’s vein. “The goal has always been the same: to provide a point-of-care blood draw and diagnostic system that is simple, quick, and efficient,” Yarmush tells Discover.

Discover | Someday, a robot might draw your blood

The New Yorker presents a Father’s Day essay about Ronald Rockmore, who taught theoretical nuclear physics at Rutgers for decades, written by his son Dan Rockmore, a professor of computer science. In 1959, the elder Rockmore produced a mathematical finding involving quasiparticle interactions that came to be known as the Rockmore theorem. Dan reports that with his memory sharp at 90-plus years of age, his father “still marvels at a career and a life that he never could have anticipated. The theorem was the lever that catapulted him [from his early days in Crown Heights]…to a middle-class life, in which he rubbed shoulders with Nobel laureates.”

The New Yorker | My father’s theorem

ROI-NJ reports that the state-of-the-art facility housing New Jersey Department of Health offices and workspace in downtown Trenton will be named the Judith M. Persichilli Building. Noting that Persichilli NUR’76 is a Rutgers alumna, the story features several congratulatory statements from high-profile leaders, including Governor Phil Murphy. “Each and every day throughout the pandemic, Judy has remained singularly engaged to save lives and protect public health,” says Murphy. “She has been the right leader for these times, and I could not be prouder to have asked Judy to serve as commissioner two years ago.”

ROI-NJ | Building that needs no introduction: Department of Health HQ to be named for Persichilli

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