S
antiago asked me share my new role at Rutgers and comment on the postdoctoral fund carrying my name that Molecular & Integrative Physiology (MIP) kindly
established. I moved to Rutgers University late August 2019 but my ties to and warm sentiments toward Michigan are as strong as ever. I thank MIP and the Department of Medicine (Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology) for adjunct appointments to help maintain close connections. I am also ceaselessly grateful to MIP for establishing the postdoc fund and wish to thank all who have and continue to contribute to it. In 2017, when MIP first wanted to establish this fund, I was hesitant. But MIP persisted and after I moved to Rutgers, I agreed given the change in my position, and the recognition by MIP faculty of the need to bolster career development of MIP postdoctoral fellows. The fund, one of the first dedicated endowments at University of Michigan (UM) for postdoctoral fellows, now has a solid foundation that can be used for the benefit of MIP postdocs. MIP took the lead in recognizing the importance of taking specific measures to further postdoctoral career development and established the MIP postdoc program, which became a model for the entire UM medical school, resulting in broader recognition of the need to support these trainees. The efforts by MIP and the medical school
From One Big Ten Family to Another By Bishr Omary Adjunct Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology; Internal Medicine, Div. of Gastroenterology
were highlighted in a commentary published in J Physiology (Enhancing career development of postdoctoral trainees: Act locally and beyond, Vol 597, pp 2317-2322, 2019), coauthored by Santiago, Yatrik, and me along with Drs. Subrama-
This campus was created when the former University of Med-
nian, Swanson, and O’Riordan.
icine and Dentistry of New Jersey joined Rutgers in 2013. One major strength that New Jersey offers is the diversity of
While at UM (2008-2019), I had the privilege to work on be-
its population; 1 in 5 inhabitants of NJ were born outside the
half of MIP with department chairs, center directors and di-
USA. More than 40% of NJ’s population receives its healthcare
vision chiefs across the medical school. I wish to specifically
from the Barnabas Health System that has partnered with
thank the units that provided essential and generous contri-
Rutgers; this in turn provides exceptional opportunities for
butions totaling $200,000 to jump-start this postdoc fund:
carrying out clinical and translational research. My current ac-
Endowment for the Basic Sciences; the Departments of In-
tivities involve overseeing several Health System-wide efforts
ternal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Cardiac Surgery, Pathology;
including a strategic plan, a research initiative similar to U-M’s
Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology; the Department of
Biosciences Initiative, and an awards recognition program. I
Internal Medicine Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatol-
am also involved in assessing research cores, minimizing ad-
ogy, Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, and Nephrology; the
ministrative research burdens, and coordinating partnerships
Cardiovascular Center and of course MIP. This Physiology
with entities outside Rutgers, among other efforts. The expe-
Postdoctoral Awards & Symposium Fund supports postdoc-
riences I had at Michigan have been a tremendous help.
toral recognition given at an annual symposium featuring a named lectureship, postdoc travel and small grants, and other
I recently had the pleasure to join MIPs January 30, 2020 cel-
postdoctoral career development activities.
ebration for Liangyou Rui and Yatrik Shah as inductees of the Lou D’Alecy and Horace Davenport professorships, respec-
At Rutgers, I serve as senior vice chancellor for academic
tively. That event reminded me of the supportive family-like
affairs and research for the health sciences campus. Rutgers
environment and collegiality MIP provides for its faculty, stu-
reminds me a lot of the U-M in terms of its size and breadth;
dents, postdocs and staff. MIPs individual parts are enviable,
there are over 150 undergraduate majors and 400 graduate
but the sum of its parts is truly one-of-a-kind. I am grateful
degrees within 29 schools and colleges, with a total enroll-
and honored beyond words for the privilege of having been
ment of over 70,000. Rutgers was chartered in 1766 and is
and continuing to be a member of MIP and the Department
the 8th oldest college in the US. It is now a member of the Big
of Medicine, and I thank you and all the generous donors
Ten. One unique aspect at Rutgers is that all the health-re-
for supporting MIP’s Postdoctoral Awards & Symposium Fund
lated schools (Dental, Health Professions, Medical, Nursing,
that I hope will reach its target goal of $300,000. Although
Pharmacy, Public Health) reside in one virtual campus under
I moved, I have not left and I’ll continue to do my best to
one administrative umbrella that allows them to collaborate.
serve!
Physiology Matters
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