Dr. Melinda Rushing recently appeared on the podcast Zora Talks. In this podcast, Dr. Rushing breaks down what sickle cell really is, why it disproportionately affects people of color, and how her team is developing a new approach called Clinically Guided AI to transform how doctors predict and manage care.
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Social Determinants, Health Policy, & Public Health
Dean Stuart Shapiro and the EJB Talks podcast have returned for season 13 with assistant teaching professor Katie Pincura. Connecting her own experiences navigating health systems in Canada and the U.S. with her work fueled her interest in health policy and ultimately led her to pursue an MPH and DrPH. Since arriving at Rutgers’ Bloustein School last year, Katie has sought to integrate her students’ lived experiences into public health policy by encouraging them to critically examine the trade-offs between individual freedoms and collective well-being.
Prof. Cantor Receives Chancellor’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Professor Joel Cantor received the 2025 Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from Rutgers Health Office of the Chancellor.
Understanding Awareness and Perceptions of Palliative Care
Conducted in partnership with the Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey (GOCCNJ) and the Rutgers Cancer Institute (CINJ), the research aims to inform patient-facing education, identify barriers to care, and support equitable implementation of New Jersey’s Medicaid palliative care initiative. D
Heldrich Report: Defining the Care Economy in New Jersey
A new report for the New Jersey Statewide Data System, written by Ann Obadan, Ph.D., Research Project Manager at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, and Amarachi Chuka-Maduji, former Research Project Assistant at the Heldrich Center and currently at the Delaware Department of Labor, provides an overview of how states and scholars conceptualize the care economy.
Edwards: Work from Home and Job Satisfaction
A new paper co-authored by Renée Edwards, Ph.D., Assistant Director at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and Managing Director of the Employer Disability Practices Center, analyzes how different measures of job satisfaction vary between people with and without disabilities, and the extent to which working from home moderates the relationship between disability and job satisfaction
Prof. Cantor Discusses Housing as a Public Health Issue
Homelessness nearly doubled in 2025 with the lifting of the COVID-era eviction moratorium. Cantor noted that New Jersey has focused additional resources to support residents, but needs federal help. He’s also concerned that President Donald Trump’s recent executive order punishing homelessness as a crime will make things worse.
NJSPL: How E-Bikes Could Bridge the Healthcare Gap
E-bikes offer a promising alternative solution for individuals to access healthcare more easily, including reaching preferred providers. Researchers’ analysis found that, with an e-bike, nearly every census tract can reach at least one primary care physician within 30 minutes.
Molloy Discusses Criteria for Healthiest Cities
“Look for excellent healthcare providers: hospitals AND primary care. Also, cities with extensive recreational opportunities that do not require payment (e.g., parks, walkways, bike paths, etc.).”
Bhuyan and Samuel Explore Generative AI Use in Healthcare
This paper examines various clinical and non-clinical applications of Gen AI. In clinical settings, Gen AI supports the creation of customized treatment plans, generation of synthetic data, analysis of medical images, nursing workflow management, risk prediction, pandemic preparedness, and population health management.