Hackensack Meridian Health and Binghamton University Agree to Collaborate on Academic Medical Missions

Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) and Binghamton University have agreed to work together on a mutual goal of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care.

HMH and Binghamton recently signed a memorandum of understanding to further their work together. The two entities have a history of collaboration, with a recently-created pharmacy residency, and a joint research symposium in Fall 2023 to share ideas and learning, among other ventures.

The new agreement would open further opportunities of that kind - and beyond. The agreement intends to enable collaboration for a variety of goals, including educational excellence, cutting-edge research and community-service initiatives.

“This is a fantastic collaboration between two elite institutions,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. “When talented people from different locations are allowed to work together, great things can happen. We cannot wait to get the great work started and see what breakthroughs are possible when we bring such a large health network together with a top-notch research university.”

Binghamton’s School of Pharmacy Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor Kanneboyina Nagaraju spoke highly of HMH and shared his excitement to continue building the relationship between Binghamton and HMH.

“This memorandum of understanding strengthens our collaboration with the co-funded postgraduate year two (PGY-2) Ambulatory Care Residency program at HMH,” said Nagaraju. “I am particularly thankful to Drs. Lucrecia Campisi and William Carroll for their hard work in jump-starting the summer internship program for our PharmD students. I eagerly look forward to expanding collaborations to translational and clinical research programs.”

“We want to work cooperatively with our great partners, for everyone’s benefit,” said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, Hackensack Meridian Health’s president of Academics, Research and Innovation, founding chair of the Hackensack Meridian Health Research Institute (HMHRI), and associate dean of Clinical Integration and professor and chair emeritus of Urology at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

Chair and Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Tracy Brooks, along with Chair and Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice Kenneth McCall, both touched on how the new agreements will have a positive impact all around.

“We are excited about these new agreements that allow us to expand our research and educational collaborations with Hackensack, enabling improved patient care at the bench and the bedside,” said Brooks.

“As Binghamton University expands its offerings of health professions education and training in the local area, we are excited to continue making partnerships mutually beneficial to students and faculty by collaborating with North Jersey's leading integrated healthcare and research network,” said McCall.

Both institutions will establish task forces to work out further specifics of the collaborative projects into the future.