Four distinguished members of the Rutgers School of Public Health community have been recognized with 2025 Rutgers Health Chancellor Awards for their outstanding contributions. These awards honor exceptional achievement in research, education, mentorship, service, and lifetime contributions.

Pia M. Mauro, Ph.D., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology as an associate professor. She is also a core member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science (PETS) with the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research.

CenteringPregnancy is a prenatal care model combining education and individual health assessments in group settings for women at similar stages of pregnancy. A new evaluation by the Rutgers School of Public Health demonstrates that Centering fosters important social ties among expectant parents and provides opportunities for developing greater trust between health care providers and patients. 

As lawmakers and public health experts debate the safety of nicotine pouches, researchers from Rutgers Health found that for now, most adults that use these products also have a history of tobacco use and may be choosing these products as a possible step toward reducing or quitting more dangerous forms of nicotine delivery.

New York City has the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, but Rutgers Health research indicates that many smokers illegally avoid them.

Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, was recently named the recipient of the J. Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award from the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) and will formally accept the honor next week at the IAPHS annual conference in Pittsburgh.

Allie Bond, Ph.D., will join the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Urban-Global Public Health as an assistant professor in September 2025. She will also be a member of the school’s New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center.

Lila Bazina, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) student in Environmental and Occupational Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health, attended and presented at the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting and ToxExpo earlier this year.

Derek Shendell, a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice at the Rutgers School of Public Health, has been named a Governing Councilor in the Environment Section with the American Public Health Association (APHA).

Rutgers Health researchers have assessed not only the direct effects of Nurture NJ – the statewide initiative launched in 2019 by First Lady Tammy Murphy to improve maternal and infant health and reduce racial disparities in health outcomes – but the indirect effects as well. 

Backed by funding from a federal agency and a nonprofit safety science organization, Rutgers Health researchers are taking a closer look at the recent Los Angeles wildfires and their impact on public health and the environment.

Jamie Tam, Ph.D., M.P.H., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy as an associate professor. She has also joined the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies as core faculty.