Compiled by Merry Sue Baum, Eve Jacobs and Mary Ann Littell
Illustrations by Joel Nakamura

 

News Briefs

New Digestive Diseases Center
The Crohn's and Colitis Center of New Jersey - the state's first comprehensive research, diagnosis and treatment center for these chronic inflammatory bowel diseases - was opened on July 28. It's located in UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Clinical Academic Building in New Brunswick.

The center was established with support from the state and federal government, the medical school and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. In addition, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Diseases, a component of the NIH, has awarded a five year, $1.6 million grant to the medical school for Kiron Das, MD, chief of gastroenterology and professor of medicine at RWJMS, and the center's director, to conduct research about the causes of both diseases and to develop new treatments.

In addition to offering the latest treatments, including both medical and surgical procedures, the center will provide endoscopy and gastrointestinal diagnostic laboratory services with state-of-the-art equipment.

University Establishes New School
UMDNJ has established a School of Public Health, which will offer master's and doctoral degrees in several traditional public health disciplines, such as epidemiology, biostatistics, infectious diseases, environmental health and urban public health. It will build on the joint program currently offered in Piscataway with Rutgers and will be expanded statewide to include components in Newark and south Jersey. The Newark program will be offered in cooperation with New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers.

"The school will open more opportunities for research in this field and will help to establish UMDNJ as a national leader in public health," says Bernard Goldstein, MD, its acting dean. "We will also work closely with public health practitioners in the community."

Marching Against Cancer
Every year, more Americans die of cancer than all the US soldiers killed in all the wars of this century. In spite of this fact, the budget for cancer research is a fraction of the defense budget. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, last year's budget for the National Institutes of Health was $12.1 billion, compared to the Department of Defense budget of $243.4 billion. For every $10 the government collects in taxes, it spends only one penny on cancer research.

To raise awareness about the need for more research funding, The March - Coming Together to Conquer Cancer will be held in Washington, DC on September 25 - 26. "For the first time in history, survivors of all kinds of cancer are transforming their frustration into a focused agenda to make cancer the nation's number one health priority," says William N. Hait, MD, PhD, director of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and professor of medicine and pharmacology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

New Jersey is launching its own event, The New Jersey Rally to Conquer Cancer, on September 17 at the State House in Trenton to demonstrate support for the national public awareness campaign. For information about the march and rally, call Laurie Miller at (732) 235-8584.

Fall 1998 Table of Contents

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