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UrduThe Research Pilot Project Funding Program is supported by the school’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies, Hackensack Meridian Health’s Office of Research Administration, and the Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation.
The five projects selected will be seeded with approximately $100,000 in total to help the scientists start their promising work – to generate preliminary investigative results, with the goal of seeking subsequent federal and foundation awards.
“This program is a vital pipeline to jump-start new research,” said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, chief research officer and president of the Northern Market for Hackensack Meridian Health. “When we seed these projects, we are expecting it to benefit everyone, long-term.”
Each of the five projects will receive approximately $20,000.
All are overseen by principal investigators who have made the case that preliminary data could support a competitive extramural grant application within a year of this funding. The researchers, and their projects, are:
- Johannes Zakrzewski, associate member of the Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) and a Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Attending Physician at Hackensack University Medical Center: Development of a novel nanoparticle-based targeted multiple myeloma drug;
- Erika Shor, Ph.D., Research Assistant Member at the CDI: Deciphering the DNA damage and stress responses of major fungal pathogen Candida glabrata;
- Michael Poulos, Ph.D., research assistant member at the CDI: Exploring niche-specific extracellular vesicles to promote healthy hematopoietic aging;
- Felicia Gliksman, D.O., pediatric neurologist and director of the Pediatric and Adult Concussion Center at Hackensack University Medical Center: Speech as an Indicator of Concussion Severity and Recovery in Pediatrics;
- Colette Knight, M.D., chair of the Diabetes Institute and division director of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Hackensack University Medical Center: Implementation of Continuous Glucose Monitoring in an Academic Medical Practice Serving Persons with Health Disparities.
““The program evidences our commitment to system-wide research and scholarship and has been enthusiastically received,” said Stanley R. Terlecky, Ph.D., associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies and chair of Medical Sciences at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. “Boosting these novel projects at the earliest stages could make all the difference in the development of novel approaches for improving the health and well-being of patients in the future.”
“Our School is a hub for learning, and this ongoing funding initiative shows we are supporting new investigations from the outset,” said Bonita Stanton, M.D., the founding dean of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Hackensack Meridian Health assumed its independent operation in July 2020. The school’s vision is that each person in New Jersey, and in the United States, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, will enjoy the highest levels of wellness in an economically and behaviorally sustainable fashion. The School’s unique curriculum focuses on linking the basic science with clinical relevance, through an integrated curriculum in a team-oriented, collaborative environment. The school prides itself on outreach, through programs like the Human Dimension, which is active in communities across New Jersey.
ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH
Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.
Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children’s hospitals – Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals – Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital – Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals – JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.
Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 36,000 team members, and over 7,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.
The network’s notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker’s Healthcare’s “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019” list.
The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its third class of students in 2020 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.
Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.
For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.
