Developments

Pure Chemistry

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The chemistry and chemical biology building, a four-story, 145,000-square-foot facility, will allow Rutgers to expand and accelerate its innovative research in drug design, alternative energy, biomaterials, and nanotechnology.

Rendering Courtesy of Flad Architects

For the university that ranks first among U.S. universities in attracting federal funding for chemistry research and development, it’s only fitting that Rutgers recently began building a new home for the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The chemistry and chemical biology building, a four-story, 145,000-square-foot facility located near the Wright-Rieman chemistry complex on the Busch Campus in Piscataway, will provide critically needed teaching, laboratory, and support space, allowing Rutgers to expand and accelerate its innovative research in drug design, alternative energy, biomaterials, and nanotechnology. The 2012 Building Our Future Bond Act is underwriting most of the cost for the $115 million project, which is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2016.

The new classrooms and labs will further enhance the high-quality science education at Rutgers, where more than 5,000 students take chemistry courses each semester. In addition, the building will allow the university to build upon its tradition of collaborative research with leading academic labs, federal entities, and private industry in New Jersey and around the world.

“Our chemistry and chemical biology faculty are world leaders in discovery and innovation,” President Robert Barchi said during the June 16 groundbreaking ceremony. “And our students go on to successful and distinguished careers in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and health care industries in New Jersey and beyond. The chemistry and chemical biology building demonstrates our commitment to continued excellence in science education and research.”
— E.J. Miranda

Nurses Station

In July, the university unveiled the new Rutgers School of Nursing, which combines the Rutgers College of Nursing and the School of Nursing. The Rutgers School of Nursing now rivals the largest nurse-education programs in the nation. “We have such a rich mix of expertise to educate students, provide community service, and conduct research,” says William Holzemer, the dean of the school. “We are very excited about our prospects for the future. The consolidation bodes well for nursing in New Jersey and beyond.” Holzemer also envisions increased collaboration between the nursing school and other schools and centers within Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, the division in which the two schools had operated and which was formed as a result of the integration of Rutgers and most of the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

The Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, formed in 2011, an­nounced a new partnership with Cooper University Health Care—the Rutgers–Camden/Cooper Collabor­ative for Upward Mobility in Nursing—to encourage health care paraprofessionals from underrepresented populations to pursue nursing careers. “This new pipeline program ... will help us better meet the health care needs of the communities we serve,” says Joanne Robinson GSN’82, the dean of the nursing school. Meanwhile, the Camden College of Arts and Sciences will now offer a bachelor of arts in health sciences degree program—another significant step forward in Rutgers University–Camden’s contribution to advancing health education in southern New Jersey.

New Endowed Chairs at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Rutgers recently announced two endowed chairs in medicine. Leonard Y. Lee RWJMS’92, interim chair of the Department of Surgery and chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), was named the James W. Mackenzie Chair in Surgery. Claire S. Philipp, professor of medicine and chief of the division of hematology at RWJMS, was named the Melvyn, Ab, and Yetta Motolinsky Chair in Hematology, endowed by the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation. Both recipients are only the second faculty members at RWJMS to hold the chairs.

Lee has conducted heart surgery and heart disease clinical trials, including current initiatives addressing inflammation in patients undergoing cardiac surgery as well as using stem cells for cardiac repair. The chair was the first endowed chair in surgery at the medical school and is named for James W. Mackenzie, the founder of RWJMS’s Department of Surgery, who served as its chair, chief of the division of thoracic surgery, and dean of the medical school.

Philipp’s clinical practice and research is in hematology, and she is an expert in bleeding and clotting disorders. Among her appointments, she oversees the New Jersey Regional Hemophilia Program at RWJMS and directs the Motolinsky Research Laboratory. The Motolinsky Foundation, named after Melvyn H. Motolinsky RC’64 who died at age 26 from leukemia, supports hematology research and efforts to treat and cure leukemia and blood-related diseases. Established in 2000 as the Melvin H. and Ab Motolinsky Chair in Hematology, the endowed professorship was renamed in memory of Yetta.
— Jennifer Forbes RC’93, SCILS’93