The newest element in Camden’s “Eds and Meds” corridor, the Joint Health Sciences Center at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Broadway houses lab and training spaces for multiple universities and is the only facility in the state to house important functions of two four-year institutions, a county college, and two medical schools.
The facility is home to the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Rutgers University–Camden, an internationally respected center for research that bridges experimental and computational approaches in quantitative biology. Research innovation happens every day at Rutgers University–Camden, where faculty and students generate the original thinking and new ideas that advance New Jersey and the world. In these labs, Rutgers–Camden researchers are creating the knowledge that will define advancements in the biosciences for decades to come.
The $70 million, four-story JHSC co-locates faculty and students from different academic disciplines in order to facilitate collaboration and joint research. As a result, students from each institution have access to expanded opportunities for mentorship and research, while also maximizing the efficiency of the space and the programs therein.
The JHSC houses research laboratory spaces for Rutgers University–Camden and Rowan, simulation rooms for medical students at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, instructional space and additional simulation labs for Camden County College, and office space for the Rowan University/Rutgers–Camden Board of Governors (“Joint Board”).
Communal multi-purpose rooms are distributed throughout approximately 60,000 square feet of space occupied by Rutgers–Camden, Rowan and the Joint Board, which also holds offices and the biomedical research equipment and labs. The collaborative design hopes to inspire students and faculty from each institution to work together on a common research agenda that will produce groundbreaking contributions and advances in the field of biomedical science.
“Research innovation happens every day at Rutgers University–Camden, where our faculty and students are generating the original thinking and new ideas that advance our state and our nation,” said Phoebe Haddon, chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden. “This building is where Rutgers–Camden researchers – faculty and students – are going to raise the bar even higher. Thanks to this investment in Camden, Rutgers researchers are developing new biomaterials for use in medical applications. They are constructing new types of nanoscale tools from DNA and other biological sources. They are exploring neural and endocrine systems by using computational modeling to detail the movements of individual molecules. The Joint Health Sciences Center sends a message to the world. It says that Camden is the place where the future is being made – one scientific breakthrough at a time.”
The Rutgers–Camden CCIB labs located in the JHSC include:
Brannigan Lab: Computational Biophysics
- Mechanisms of drug action in the central nervous system
- Interactions between lipids and neurotransmitter receptors
- Genetic variations in disordered signaling proteins
Fried Undergraduate Research Training Lab: Chronic Pain and Sleep
- Undergraduate-driven research projects guided by Dr. Fried
- Exploration of the neural Intersection of sleep and pain
- Neuroethology of Drosophila pain behavior
- Bionanotechnology and biomaterials
- Molecular diagnosis
- Biocatalysis and bioenergy
González Lab: Complex Ecological Systems
- Organizing principles that shape organismal form, function, and biodiversity
- Structure and dynamics of ecological networks across spatial and temporal scales
- Global change effects on biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem function
- Regulation of microbial cell shape
- Bacterial adaptation to changes in nutrient availability
- Mechanical regulation of bacterial pathogenesis
Lamoureux Lab: Molecular Modeling and Machine Learning
- Biomolecular recognition
- Catalysis and enzyme design
- Membrane transport
- Genetic/genomic/molecular mechanisms of 24-hour biological rhythm
- Molecular mechanisms of natural variation of circadian clock
- Roles of circadian rhythm in photoperiodism (seasonal rhythm)
- Gene regulatory elements
- Structure and evolution of the regulatory genome
- Genomics tool development
Piccoli Lab: Applied Math and Systems Biology
- Modeling of metabolic networks
- Differential equations for developmental biology
- Codes for forensic DNA
Qi Lab: Plant Development
- Environmental regulation on gene expression
- Protein dynamics analysis
- Signal transduction in plant cells
- Ecological dynamics in urban ecosystems
- The interplay among local species interactions and drivers of global change
- Diversity and resilience of ecological communities
Shain Lab: Evolutionary Biology
- Adaption to extreme environments
- Bioenergetics of cold temperature tolerance
- Stem cell development in annelids
Solesio Lab: Mitochondrial Biology
- Mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegeneration and aging
- Cellular and animal models of neurodegeneration and aging
- Cell/molecular biology techniques for studying mitochondrial physiology and dysfunction
Yakoby Lab: Developmental Genetics
- Tissue development and cell fate determination
- Cell signaling and regulation of gene expression in tissues
- The evolution of biological morphologies
- Computational toxicology
- Nanoinformatics and nanomaterial design
- Big data of biological chemistry
Both the Center and Joint Board were made possible by the New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act. The law enabled partnership and cooperation between South Jersey’s institutions of higher education.