Newark, NJ - According to Tom Bergeron of NJBiz, "Dr. Robert Johnson had been associated with UMNDJ for much of his life. And he's the first to admit that when he heard the school was merging with Rutgers University, he didn't think it would make much of a difference — other than changing a few signs, he joked.
"I was very skeptical," he said to a crowd of a few hundred top leaders and executives from the state at the PSE&G power luncheon in Newark. "I have to say, I didn't think it would make much difference if we were Rutgers or UMDNJ. Researchers who were in Newark and New Brunswick (already were) collaborating with each other, so I didn't think it would make much of a difference, but it has.
"What the state did in making that decision is suddenly creating in New Jersey one of the Top 25 research universities in the whole world."
Johnson said the merger hasn't necessarily changed the amount of research being done, but how it is being done and its impact.
He called it the “wow” factor.
"It has made a sizeable difference in all the 'wow' research that goes on in health care, as it is now combined with the great research that Rutgers has in engineering, political science, law and the arts, so we're coming together to be even better than we were," he said.
The numbers — and the potential — he said, is astounding.
"In Newark, we have 1,000 researchers who are doing all sorts of health care research. We have close to 800 physicians who are practicing here in Newark and we have great hospital partners who will have a major impact in the development of health science and care for the people of New Jersey."
And, he said, for the world. He gave one example of a breakthrough.
"One of our scientists was able to develop a new test for tuberculosis," he said. "What difference does that make? In the United States, it's a rare disease, but in the world, it's a leading cause of death.
"In the world, it take two months to find out if you have tuberculosis. This test allows tuberculosis to be discovered in two hours.
"So one of our scientists took a discovery, combined it with (the work of) one our health science researcher physicians, and now a new test is developed that is changing the treatment of tuberculosis around the world. These types of things are going on in this great new world of health science research. That's some of the 'wow' stuff."
For the full story: http://www.njbiz.com/article/20150722/NJBIZ01/150729925/need-another-reason-to-understand-why-the-rutgersumdnj-merger-was-so-big-listen-to-the-dean-of-the-medical-school
"What the state did in making that decision is suddenly creating in New Jersey one of the Top 25 research universities in the whole world."
Johnson said the merger hasn't necessarily changed the amount of research being done, but how it is being done and its impact.
He called it the “wow” factor.
"It has made a sizeable difference in all the 'wow' research that goes on in health care, as it is now combined with the great research that Rutgers has in engineering, political science, law and the arts, so we're coming together to be even better than we were," he said.
The numbers — and the potential — he said, is astounding.
"In Newark, we have 1,000 researchers who are doing all sorts of health care research. We have close to 800 physicians who are practicing here in Newark and we have great hospital partners who will have a major impact in the development of health science and care for the people of New Jersey."
And, he said, for the world. He gave one example of a breakthrough.
"One of our scientists was able to develop a new test for tuberculosis," he said. "What difference does that make? In the United States, it's a rare disease, but in the world, it's a leading cause of death.
"In the world, it take two months to find out if you have tuberculosis. This test allows tuberculosis to be discovered in two hours.
"So one of our scientists took a discovery, combined it with (the work of) one our health science researcher physicians, and now a new test is developed that is changing the treatment of tuberculosis around the world. These types of things are going on in this great new world of health science research. That's some of the 'wow' stuff."
For the full story: http://www.njbiz.com/article/20150722/NJBIZ01/150729925/need-another-reason-to-understand-why-the-rutgersumdnj-merger-was-so-big-listen-to-the-dean-of-the-medical-school
