“Since the integration, we continue to make new connections with the research community, thanks to the strength and continued growth of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences’ research portfolio,” Barchi added.
The event, which focused on the impact of education and policy on the economy of Middlesex County, featured a keynote by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and a panel discussion that explored Rutgers’ role in expanding innovation and opportunity in New Brunswick and beyond.
In addition to Barchi, panelists included Barry H. Ostrowsky, president and chief executive officer, RWJBarnabas Health; Robert C. Garrett, co-CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health; Christopher J. Paladino, president, New Brunswick Development Corporation (Devco); Carl Van Horn, founding director, Rutgers’ Heldrich Center for Workforce Development; and Ronald G. Rios, Middlesex County freeholder director.
Among the initiatives highlighted:
• The creation of Rutgers Health, the clinical practice of physicians, nurses, dentists and other clinicians.
• Rutgers’ partnership with RWJBarnabas Health to create a premier academic health system. RWJBarnabas will invest $100 million to develop Rutgers’ academic and research initiatives in the health sciences, and $50 million a year in mission support for the next 20 years.
• A partnership between Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, the New Brunswick Development Corporation (Devco) and the New Brunswick Culture Center to build the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, expected to be completed in 2019.
• Development of an Innovation Hub on a four-acre site near the train station in New Brunswick to foster the development of startup companies tied to leading-edge research.
Barchi noted Rutgers’ partnerships with state, county and city leaders are fueling economic growth in the region and are helping to make New Brunswick safer as university and city police departments work together.
“A stronger Rutgers means a stronger Middlesex County and vice versa,” Barchi said. “We’re committed to continuing along that trajectory with all of you.”