From One Big Ten Family to Another

Santiago 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 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. Subramanian, Swanson, and O’Riordan.

While at UM (2008-2019), I had the privilege to work on behalf of MIP with department chairs, center directors and division chiefs across the medical school. I wish to specifically thank the units that provided essential and generous contributions totaling $200,000 to jump-start this postdoc fund: Endowment for the Basic Sciences; the Departments of Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Cardiac Surgery, Pathology; Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology; the Department of Internal Medicine Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, and Nephrology; the Cardiovascular Center and of course MIP. This Physiology Postdoctoral Awards & Symposium Fund supports postdoctoral recognition given at an annual symposium featuring a named lectureship, postdoc travel and small grants, and other postdoctoral career development activities.

At Rutgers, I serve as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and research for the health sciences campus. Rutgers reminds me a lot of the U-M in terms of its size and breadth; there are over 150 undergraduate majors and 400 graduate degrees within 29 schools and colleges, with a total enrollment of over 70,000. Rutgers was chartered in 1766 and is the 8th oldest college in the US. It is now a member of the Big Ten. One unique aspect at Rutgers is that all the health-related schools (Dental, Health Professions, Medical, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health) reside in one virtual campus under one administrative umbrella that allows them to collaborate.

By Bishr Omary Adjunct Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology; Internal Medicine, Div. of Gastroenterology

This campus was created when the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey joined Rutgers in 2013. One major strength that New Jersey offers is the diversity of its population; 1 in 5 inhabitants of NJ were born outside the USA. More than 40% of NJ’s population receives its healthcare from the Barnabas Health System that has partnered with Rutgers; this in turn provides exceptional opportunities for carrying out clinical and translational research. My current activities involve overseeing several Health System-wide efforts including a strategic plan, a research initiative similar to U-M’s Biosciences Initiative, and an awards recognition program. I am also involved in assessing research cores, minimizing administrative research burdens, and coordinating partnerships with entities outside Rutgers, among other efforts. The experiences I had at Michigan have been a tremendous help.

I recently had the pleasure to join MIPs January 30, 2020 celebration for Liangyou Rui and Yatrik Shah as inductees of the Lou D’Alecy and Horace Davenport professorships, respectively. That event reminded me of the supportive family-like environment and collegiality MIP provides for its faculty, students, postdocs and staff. MIPs individual parts are enviable, but the sum of its parts is truly one-of-a-kind. I am grateful and honored beyond words for the privilege of having been and continuing to be a member of MIP and the Department of Medicine, and I thank you and all the generous donors for supporting MIP’s Postdoctoral Awards & Symposium Fund that I hope will reach its target goal of $300,000. Although I moved, I have not left and I’ll continue to do my best to serve!