One need only to look at the top performers in the S&P 500 to confirm that technological innovation is the key driver of economic growth. That’s why two legislators and NJIT’s president are calling for the state to boost funding for R&D in the Innovation NJ Weekly Update.
Opinion: Assemblymen and Stevens President Urge ‘Restore Funding to Turbocharge NJ’s Research and Development’ Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson), Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) and Dr. Nariman Farvardin, president of Stevens Institute of Technology, write on innovation and A-5123 in an op-ed published on August 15 in The Star-Ledger: One need only to look at the top performers in the S&P 500 – Amazon, Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook – to confirm an indisputable fact about our modern economy: Technological innovation is the key driver of economic growth.
Life Sciences Talent Network Shaping Future Leaders in NJ’s Biotech Industry
Matt Alcalde, Director of Life Sciences Talent Network at Bio NJ, writes: Now in its second year, the Life Sciences Talent Advisory Board, managed by the Life Sciences Talent Network at BioNJ, has engaged over 100 employers from New Jersey’s robust health and life sciences industry. These employers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies that are researching and developing new drugs and therapies to treat various diseases affecting patients worldwide as well as others who are supporting that work.
Rutgers Cancer Institute Reports Favorable Safety Profile Seen in Immunotherapy Drug in Aggressive Form of Lung Cancer The immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and “promising durable clinical activity” in pretreated patients who exhibit high levels of the PD-L1 protein in advanced stages of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) – an aggressive form of the disease. That is according to data from a phase 1b clinical trial conducted by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
FDA Puts New Restrictions on Hiring of Foreign Scientists, STAT Reports
Erin Mershon reports on STAT that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is implementing a new hiring protocol that could make it significantly harder for foreign scientists to find jobs and research opportunities at the agency, according to interviews and newly obtained documents. Mershon reports that the FDA recently began directing hiring managers not to extend any employment offers – including for fellowship and contractor positions.
Stockton University Brain Research Team Seeking Volunteers in Atlantic City Area
Stockton University is seeking volunteers for a research project being conducted in Atlantic City, which will explore which lifestyle factors have the most significant impact on the degree of connectivity among different regions of the brain. “As we age, we routinely participate in screenings of blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar,” noted Jessica Fleck, associate professor of Psychology. “However, many individuals have never participated in a screening of brain health and function.”
Op-Ed: NJ Assn. of State Colleges and Universities’ Dr. Michael Klein Urges ‘Modernize Contracts Laws for NJ’s State Colleges, Universities’ NJ Spotlight on August 14 published the following op-ed by Michael W. Klein, J.D., Ph.D., executive director of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities: The ideal college, according to President James Garfield, was having Mark Hopkins, the president of Williams College from 1836 to 1872, “on one end of a log and a student on the other.”
NJ Office of the Secretary of Higher Education Receives Lumina Foundation Grant for ’65 by 25′ Campaign Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks on August 14 announced New Jersey had been selected to receive a $100,000 attainment challenge grant from the Lumina Foundation to support strategic initiatives to increase the state’s post-secondary attainment rate to 65 percent by 2025. According to the 2017 issue of A Stronger Nation, Lumina’s annual report on postsecondary attainment, New Jersey’s attainment rate was 50.2 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available.
Trump Administration Unveils First Blueprint for Federal Investment in Science and Tech; Departs from Its Budget Request Jeffrey Mervis reports in Science that President Donald J. Trump on August 17 translated his campaign promise to “make America great again” into his administration’s first blueprint for federal investment in science and technology. The White House on issued a four-page memo telling federal agencies that their research dollars should be focused on delivering short-term dividends in strengthening national defense and border security, the economy, and “energy dominance,” as well as improving public health.
NJ Health Care Talent Network’s 2017 ‘Health IT Summit’
When: Mon, Aug. 21, 9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Where: Rutgers College Avenue Student Center in New Brunswick
2017 ManufactureNJ Industry Summit
When: Wed, Aug 23, 2017
Where: NJIT, Newark
New Jersey State Library’s ‘2017 Futures Conference’
When: Sept 25 – 26, 2017
Where: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City
Chemistry Council of NJ’s Inaugural Hal Bozarth Memorial Golf Outing benefiting STEM Education
When: Mon, Oct. 2, 9 am – 6 pm
Where: Old York Country Club, 228 Old York Rd, Chesterfield
NJ Innovation Institute and Columbia University’s “Biopharmaceutical Product Development & Data Science Symposium”
When: Tue, Oct 10, 8 am – 5 pm
Where: NJIT, Campus Center Atrium, 150 Bleeker St., Newark
