HINJ Launches STEM Education Portal; Focus Is on Life Sciences’ Investment in Tomorrow’s Innovation Leaders
New Brunswick, NJ, November 30, 2016 ― The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) has launched a STEM Education portal that focuses on the life sciences community’s investment in today’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educators and students, who will become tomorrow’s innovation leaders.
HINJ’s new STEM Education portal presents information from a number of sources regarding the current state of STEM education in the United States, its significance to the nation’s and New Jersey’s economic well-being, its importance to advancing medical innovation, and the life sciences industry’ investment in programs designed to advance STEM education.
The STEM Education page is the latest offering on HINJ.org, which was re-launched in February 2013 as part of the association’s strategic plan to build a dynamic communications capability that delivers relevant, robust and timely information to internal and external stakeholders. Continue reading
BioNJ to Host 2nd Annual Inspiring Women in STEM Conference on December 2
Trenton, NJ, November 30, 2016 — BioNJ’s Second Annual Inspiring Women in STEM Conference, scheduled for Friday, December 2 at Sanofi, Bridgewater, NJ, will bring together professionals of all levels from the STEM community for an empowering professional development program.
Created in response to the success of the first Inspiring Women in STEM Conference in 2015, the speaker roster features a stellar group of outstanding women who have traveled remarkable journeys.
Through forward-thinking presentations, informative panel discussions, audience-participation exercises and fun networking activities, attendees will leave with valuable insights and actionable ideas to advance their Path to Power. Continue reading
President-Elect Trump to Nominate Rep. Tom Price to Serve as Health and Human Services Secretary
Rep. Tom Price
Washington, DC, November 29, 2016 — Robert Pear reports today in The New York Times that President-elect Donald J. Trump has picked Congressman Tom Price, a six-term Republican congressman from Georgia, to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Pear reports that if Mr. Trump’s wanted a cabinet secretary who could help him dismantle and replace President Obama’s health care law, the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, he could not have found anyone more prepared than Rep. Price, who has been studying how to accomplish that goal for more than six years.
Congressman Price, an orthopedic surgeon who represents many of the northern suburbs of Atlanta, speaks with the self-assurance of a doctor about to perform another joint-replacement procedure. He knows the task and will proceed with brisk efficiency. Continue reading
Trump Names Healthcare Consultant Seema Verma to Head Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Seema Verma
Washington, DC, November 29, 2016 — Politico today reports that President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday morning picked the founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm, Seema Verma, to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“I am pleased to nominate Seema Verma to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” said President-elect Trump in a statement.
Trump continued, “She has decades of experience advising on Medicare and Medicaid policy and helping states navigate our complicated systems. Together, Chairman Price and Seema Verma are the dream team that will transform our healthcare system for the benefit of all Americans.” Continue reading
NIH Co-funds First New HIV Vaccine Efficacy Study in Seven Years
Bethesda, MD, November 29, 2016 — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) yesterday announced that the first HIV vaccine efficacy study to launch anywhere in seven years is now testing whether an experimental vaccine regimen safely prevents HIV infection among South African adults.
The study, called HVTN 702, involves a new version of the only HIV vaccine candidate ever shown to provide some protection against the virus.
HVTN 702 aims to enroll 5,400 men and women, making it the largest and most advanced HIV vaccine clinical trial to take place in South Africa, where more than 1,000 people become infected with HIV every day. Continue reading
STAT: Could the FDA Be Dismantled Under President Trump?
Washington, DC, November 29, 2016 — Has President-elect Donald Trump put a bull’s-eye on the Food and Drug Administration?
Sheila Kaplan reports on STAT that it’s been less than a year since Dr. Robert Califf was sworn in as the FDA’s chief, but already the agency is facing post-election upheaval.
Public health advocates are bracing for a seismic shift: a surrender of the agency’s rules for off-label promotion of drugs; the importation of more drugs from other countries; and fewer requirements for clinical trials — long the gold standard for determining whether medicines are safe and effective. Continue reading
21st Century Cures Bill Released; House to Vote Wednesday on $6.3 Billion Medical Innovation Package
Washington, DC, November 28, 2016 — U.S. House of Representatives and Senate health committee leaders have released the final “21st Century Cures” bill.
In addition, the leaders announced that the House will vote Wednesday on a $6.3 Billion landmark medical innovation package that will accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of new cures and treatments and provide new funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The leaders said the House also will vote Wednesday to include in the Cures bill legislation that updates major mental health programs for the first time in a decade. Continue reading
NJ Tech Council Hosts 2016 Awards Celebration
Somerset, NJ, November 28, 2016 — Andrew Sheldon reports in NJBIZ that the New Jersey Tech Council hosted its annual awards celebration on Thursday, November 17 at The Palace in Somerset.
The event recognized and celebrated “technology companies in the region for their accomplishments in leadership, collaboration and innovation.”
Tech Council CEO and President Jim Barrood said, “This is our celebration.” “A celebration of everything that makes our community so amazing,” he added. Continue reading
VP Biden’s Cancer ‘Moonshot’ Project Hangs in Balance as Trump Readies for Presidency
Vice President Joe Biden
Washington, DC, November 26, 2016 — Dylan Scott reports in STAT that Vice President Joe Biden’s cancer “moonshot” is in serious jeopardy following Donald Trump’s election, but there may be hope for it yet.
The president-elect hasn’t said anything about the initiative, launched by the Obama administration earlier this year, and his aides didn’t reply to multiple requests for comment.
But the lame-duck Congress is making a last-ditch effort to pass a medical innovation bill that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the effort. Continue reading
Long-Stalled 21st Century Cures Act Sits on Senate’s Lame-Duck Calendar
Washington, DC, November 24, 2016 — Steven Findlay reports in The Washington Post that Republicans in Congress are pushing to pass long-stalled legislation by December that gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new powers to more rapidly approve drugs and medical devices.
Over five years, the complex legislation would include $550 million in additional funding for the agency, plus upward of $1 billion annually in added spending for the National Institutes of Health.
The bills have had bipartisan support in Congress during the past two years. Continue reading
