The STAT-MI Project at UMDNJ-University Hospital (UH) in Newark received national attention when recognized in the December 3, 2007 issue of Time magazine. The article titled, "The Year in Medicine from A to Z for 2007" highlights a variety of notable advances in medical breakthroughs. UH is the first in the nation to use wireless technology that puts the patient's heart in the physician's hand.

The project was launched on May 1, 2006 at UH to study the application of new wireless handheld technologies for the rapid triage of patients with myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Dr. Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, a professor and acting chair of Environmental and Occupational Health at UMDNJ-School of Public Health and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Dr. Pamela Ohman Strickland, also at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health, and researchers from several European institutions have identified a significantly increased health risk for persons with asthma who are exposed to air commonly found in urban environments.

The study, published in the December 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, is the world's first to measure the impact on individuals with asthma during real-life (as opposed to lab) exposure to diesel exhaust. The findings have significant health implications for people living in cities and raise important questions about the types of vehicles and fuels used in urban transportation.

Dr. Mark Merlin, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and medical director for Emergency Medical Services and Critical Care Transport at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, was named "EMS Physician of the Year" by the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Council and the Office of Emergency Medical Services of the Department of Health and Senior Services.

Dr. Merlin has been involved in pre-hospital care for more than 20 years and is trained in internal medical and emergency medicine. He has authored multiple chapters in the current pre-hospital care textbook used nationwide by paramedics and paramedic students and is involved in multiple research and grant projects.

He is also the medical director of the medical school's EMS/Disaster Medicine Fellowship and the New Jersey Physician Response Program, and serves as chair of the New Jersey MICU Advisory Board for the Department of Health and Senior Services, providing oversight and direction of all paramedic units in New Jersey.