Students from Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University Join Scientific Investigators for a Special Seminar

Students from the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University filled the auditorium at the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) for a dynamic day of learning and cross-pollinating with scientific investigators at an Interprofessional Health Sciences Campus (IHS) research seminar series event.

Onstage, David Perlin, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI, as well as a pioneering infectious disease researcher, presented an engaged audience with the groundbreaking and impactful discoveries taking place in real time at the facility.

Principle investigators from 10 CDI labs shared wisdom, identifying research opportunities with a focus on public health challenges and the potential to transform health care resulting in new understanding of diseases and treatments. Dr. Perlin and his colleagues encouraged the students to reach out directly to seek research opportunities within the CDI.

This event, a part of the IHS Interprofessional Education Research Seminar Series, a collaboration between Seton Hall University’s College of Nursing, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Interprofessional Health Sciences Library, and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, was largely attended by students from the School of Medicine’s inaugural cohort.

Stanley R. Terlecky, Ph.D., associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies at the School of Medicine, began the program by outlining the pathways for student research and scholarship activities. Dr. Perlin presented the CDI’s ongoing projects and state-of-the-art facilities. Others followed by presenting an overview of their specialties, interests and research programs.

After a question and answer session, the students were invited to engage in informal conversations with the researchers whose work best suited their interests. At the conclusion of the event, students enjoyed a tour of the CDI facilities, with time allocated for students to speak with individual investigators.

As Dr. Perlin noted regarding the CDI, “The science and the programs are not new – the forum and the ecosystem is [new].”

Within that ecosystem, students from the School of Medicine, as the health care providers of tomorrow, have the potential to bring this kind of research innovation into clinical practice.

As Dr. Tycko said, these students “are the people than can make that bridge.”