Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science

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The Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine & Science (RITMS) is an interdisciplinary program that combines expertise in cellular, molecular, genetic and clinical science under the direction of Dr. Reynold Panettieri.

What do RFK Jr’s vaccine moves mean in NJ? A newly-assembled CDC advisory committee, handpicked by U.S. Health and Human...
11/10/2025

What do RFK Jr’s vaccine moves mean in NJ? A newly-assembled CDC advisory committee, handpicked by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., spent two chaotic days debating federal public health strategies before voting to change some vaccine protocols for both COVID-19 and a combination MMRV shot for children.

A leader of the national “Make America Healthy Again” movement, Kennedy is a known vaccine skeptic and his new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, contains several members who openly question federal vaccination policies. The committee’s initial gathering got off to a rocky start last week, with members often questioning what their votes actually meant. Angry liaison groups accused ACIP members with cherry picking unqualified research and skewing decisions based on personal anecdotes.

“You’re not looking at all aspects,” said Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians. “You’re looking at very small data points and misrepresenting how it works in the real world and how we take care of our patients. So, no, this was not a thoroughly-vetted discussion.” https://ritms.rutgers.edu/news/what-do-rfk-jrs-vaccine-moves-mean-in-nj/

Ni****ne Pouches May Offer Path to Reduced To***co Harm. As lawmakers and public health experts debate the safety of ni*...
11/10/2025

Ni****ne Pouches May Offer Path to Reduced To***co Harm. As lawmakers and public health experts debate the safety of ni****ne pouches, researchers from Rutgers Health found that for now, most adults that use these products also have a history of to***co use and may be choosing these products as a possible step toward reducing or quitting more dangerous forms of ni****ne delivery. The findings – believed to be the first national estimates of daily ni****ne pouch use in the U.S. – were published in JAMA Network Open.

Pouches are small, powder-filled microfiber rectangles that users typically place between the lip and gums, where ni****ne is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Faced with declining cigarette sales, to***co manufacturers in the U.S. are turning to to***co-free ni****ne pouches, such as Velo and Zyn, which are among the few segments of the industry that’s growing.

In January 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of ZYN, the first ni****ne pouch to receive such authorization. Importantly, pouches cannot be marketed as smoking cessation aids – such as patches, gums and lozenges approved for therapeutic use – even if some people appear to be turning to them for that reason. Against this backdrop, Cristine D. Delnevo, director of the Rutgers Institute for Ni****ne and To***co Studies, set out to assess how widely ni****ne pouches are being used among U.S. adults, and to establish a baseline for monitoring future changes in user habits. https://njacts.rbhs.rutgers.edu/.../ni****ne-pouches-may.../

Scientists are developing a new weight loss drug with fewer side effects than other GLP-1s. We’ve all heard about the un...
11/10/2025

Scientists are developing a new weight loss drug with fewer side effects than other GLP-1s. We’ve all heard about the uncomfortable side effects that come with taking GLP-1 medications: upset stomach, constipation, nausea, hair loss… The list goes on. But researchers are hard at work on a new class of weight loss medication that promises to combat obesity with fewer side effects. The medication is still in the research phase so you can’t pick it up at your local pharmacy just yet. Still, so far, it’s showing enough promise that it’s has caught the attention of healthcare professionals. Here’s what you need to know about this potential new weight-loss drug, plus why it’s got plenty of early buzz.

The new medication doesn’t actually have a name just yet, but experts are calling it a tetra-agonist (‘tetra’ is a Greek-derived word for four) because it acts on four different hormones in the body. Most current weight loss medications target one, two, or three hormone receptors that influence how well your body breaks down glucose (i.e. blood sugar) and regulate your appetite. But this medication, which was created by researchers at Tufts University, targets a fourth receptor. The researchers’ findings so far were just published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

A few major things to note here: the drug is trying to help people reach the same level of weight loss success that they’d get with bariatric surgery (with the goal of losing 30 percent of their body weight), but with fewer side effects. https://ritms.rutgers.edu/news/scientists-are-developing-a-new-weight-loss-drug-with-fewer-side-effects-than-other-glp-1s/

Does cannabis affect your fertility? For many women, fertility can be a frustrating and stressful journey filled with un...
11/10/2025

Does cannabis affect your fertility? For many women, fertility can be a frustrating and stressful journey filled with unanswered questions. Some turn to cannabis to help deal with the stress, but now, a new study hints that the drug might actually make fertility issues worse. “Some people might think that it’s a plant, so therefore it’s natural, therefore it might not be as risky as other drugs,” says Cyntia Duval, a clinical embryologist at a Toronto clinic called CReATE Fertility Centre and lead author of the study. “I think people with ovaries need to know how it can potentially affect their oocytes”—the technical term for immature egg cells.

Published September 9 in Nature Communications, the study is among the first to examine cannabis and female fertility. It’s still unclear how this could play out in the body, whether different forms of cannabis present different risks, and how the drug compares to more established risky substances like alcohol. https://ritms.rutgers.edu/news/does-cannabis-affect-your-fertility/

Soot’s Climate-Altering Properties Change Within Hours of Entering Atmosphere. Billions upon billions of soot particles ...
11/10/2025

Soot’s Climate-Altering Properties Change Within Hours of Entering Atmosphere. Billions upon billions of soot particles enter Earth’s atmosphere each second, totaling about 5.8 million metric tons a year — posing a climate-warming impact previously estimated at almost one-third that of carbon dioxide. Now, researchers say the climate-altering properties of these particles can change within just hours of becoming airborne, rather than days as previously assumed. A study led by researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has revealed the surprising speed at which soot particles gather chemicals and water v***r after being released into the atmosphere.

Researchers say this rapid transformation of airborne soot — known as “atmospheric aging” — could mean its impact on weather, climate and air quality occurs more quickly, and in ways not fully captured by current atmospheric models up until now. The findings have been highlighted on the cover of Environmental Science & Technology.

“Soot is a unique aerosol that absorbs sunlight extremely well but barely scatters it, which makes it a potent climate agent from the moment it’s emitted,” said Alexei Khalizov, professor of chemistry at NJIT and senior author of the study funded by the National Science Foundation. “What’s surprised us is just how quickly soot changes after entering the air, dramatically altering its ability to warm or cool the atmosphere. Our results suggest that forecasting soot’s climate impact is far more complex than previously realized.” https://njacts.rbhs.rutgers.edu/.../soots-climate.../

Researchers from Rutgers Health and other institutions were awarded a grant for $2.8 million over the course of three ye...
11/10/2025

Researchers from Rutgers Health and other institutions were awarded a grant for $2.8 million over the course of three years from the National Institutes of Health to improve implantable devices for epileptic patients. The grant will fund a program to develop the next generation of responsive neurostimulation devices that can be implanted in the brains of people affected with severe epileptic seizures to reduce or eliminate their occurrence. The researchers said an existing device is effective in reducing seizure frequency among patients, however, it eliminates seizures in 15% to 20% percent of them.

“We are excited to initiate a promising project focused on developing a new treatment option for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy,” said Hai Sun, vice chair of clinical affairs and associate professor of neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of neurosurgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility. “Our goal is to design and implement a new generation of devices that are equipped with a better seizure prediction algorithm and can stimulate larger areas of the brain where seizures initiate. We plan to bring this device to market, in the next five years.” https://njacts.rbhs.rutgers.edu/.../rutgers-and.../

Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health Receive $2.8 Million to Develop New Devices to Treat Epilepsy. Researchers from Rutgers H...
10/21/2025

Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health Receive $2.8 Million to Develop New Devices to Treat Epilepsy. Researchers from Rutgers Health and other institutions were awarded a grant for $2.8 million over the course of three years from the National Institutes of Health to improve implantable devices for epileptic patients. The grant will fund a program to develop the next generation of responsive neurostimulation devices that can be implanted in the brains of people affected with severe epileptic seizures to reduce or eliminate their occurrence. The researchers said an existing device is effective in reducing seizure frequency among patients, however, it eliminates seizures in 15% to 20% percent of them.

“We are excited to initiate a promising project focused on developing a new treatment option for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy,” said Hai Sun, vice chair of clinical affairs and associate professor of neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of neurosurgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility. “Our goal is to design and implement a new generation of devices that are equipped with a better seizure prediction algorithm and can stimulate larger areas of the brain where seizures initiate. We plan to bring this device to market, in the next five years.” https://ritms.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-and-rwjbarnabas-health-receive-2-8-million-to-develop-new-devices-to-treat-epilepsy/

Researchers Map Where Solar Energy Delivers the Biggest Climate Payoff. Increasing solar power generation in the United ...
10/21/2025

Researchers Map Where Solar Energy Delivers the Biggest Climate Payoff. Increasing solar power generation in the United States by 15% could lead to an annual reduction of 8.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to researchers at Rutgers, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stony Brook University. The study, published in Science Advances, found that the climate benefits of solar power differ markedly throughout U.S. regions, pinpointing where clean energy investments return the greatest climate dividends.

In 2023, 60% of U.S. electricity generation relied on fossil fuels, while 3.9% came from solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Because fossil fuel-generated electricity is a leading source of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and harmful air pollutants such as fine particulate matter, expanding solar could not only mitigate CO2 but help reduce illness, hospitalizations and premature deaths linked to air pollution exposure.
Increasing solar power generation in the United States by 15% could lead to an annual reduction of 8.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to researchers at Rutgers, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stony Brook University.

The study, published in Science Advances, found that the climate benefits of solar power differ markedly throughout U.S. regions, pinpointing where clean energy investments return the greatest climate dividends.

In 2023, 60% of U.S. electricity generation relied on fossil fuels, while 3.9% came from solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Because fossil fuel-generated electricity is a leading source of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and harmful air pollutants such as fine particulate matter, expanding solar could not only mitigate CO2 but help reduce illness, hospitalizations and premature deaths linked to air pollution exposure. https://njacts.rbhs.rutgers.edu/.../researchers-map.../

Researchers Map Where Solar Energy Delivers the Biggest Climate Payoff. Increasing solar power generation in the United ...
10/14/2025

Researchers Map Where Solar Energy Delivers the Biggest Climate Payoff. Increasing solar power generation in the United States by 15% could lead to an annual reduction of 8.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to researchers at Rutgers, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stony Brook University. The study, published in Science Advances, found that the climate benefits of solar power differ markedly throughout U.S. regions, pinpointing where clean energy investments return the greatest climate dividends.

In 2023, 60% of U.S. electricity generation relied on fossil fuels, while 3.9% came from solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Because fossil fuel-generated electricity is a leading source of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and harmful air pollutants such as fine particulate matter, expanding solar could not only mitigate CO2 but help reduce illness, hospitalizations and premature deaths linked to air pollution exposure.

Increasing solar power generation in the United States by 15% could lead to an annual reduction of 8.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to researchers at Rutgers, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stony Brook University.

The study, published in Science Advances, found that the climate benefits of solar power differ markedly throughout U.S. regions, pinpointing where clean energy investments return the greatest climate dividends.

In 2023, 60% of U.S. electricity generation relied on fossil fuels, while 3.9% came from solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Because fossil fuel-generated electricity is a leading source of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and harmful air pollutants such as fine particulate matter, expanding solar could not only mitigate CO2 but help reduce illness, hospitalizations and premature deaths linked to air pollution exposure. https://ritms.rutgers.edu/news/researchers-map-where-solar-energy-delivers-the-biggest-climate-payoff/

Internalizing Stress May Lead to Cognitive Decline in Older Chinese Americans. Stress internalization is a significant r...
10/14/2025

Internalizing Stress May Lead to Cognitive Decline in Older Chinese Americans. Stress internalization is a significant risk factor for age-related cognitive decline in older Chinese Americans, according to Rutgers Health researchers. Their study, published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease by researchers from the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, examined multiple risk and resilience factors associated with cognitive decline in Chinese adults older than 60.

Researchers chose to study this population because older Chinese Americans are historically underrepresented in brain aging research. “With the number of older Asian Americans growing significantly, it’s vital to better understand the risk factors of memory decline in this understudied population,” said Michelle Chen, a core member of the Center for Healthy Aging Research in the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and lead author of the study.

Researchers said the model minority stereotype – which portrays Asian Americans as consistently successful, educated and healthy – is a unique factor facing this population and their mental health. In this context, Chen and colleagues said older Asian Americans may endure stress from experiencing language and cultural barriers. Other immigrant groups in the U.S. also may experience stress associated with language and cultural barriers, according to the researchers. https://njacts.rbhs.rutgers.edu/.../internalizing-stress.../

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