Life Sciences

In an era of unprecedented technological change, the life sciences stand poised to make major discoveries toward the advancement of human health.

At Rutgers, we have significant strengths in areas such as computational genetics, molecular biology, neurobiology, and model systems of human disease. Our faculty explores the causes of neurological illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and trains the next generation to go even further. Yet our world-class programs will not reach their full potential without a richly diverse community of students and scholars that reflect the complex world in which we live and the communities that we serve.

Science is conducted by people who bring abundant curiosity, openness to the world, and a range of lived experience to the labs and classrooms. These talented people are everywhere, in all communities, from all walks of life, and backgrounds.

And we need to act decisively to extend the opportunities for success.

Our role in preparing the next generation of research scholars, physicians, and public health professionals imposes on us a serious responsibility on us to eliminate barriers, improve access, and create workplaces and academic environments that are models of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In the Department of Kinesiology and Health, Javier Robles, pictured above teaching his course "Movement Experiences for Individuals with Disabilities,” has been a pioneering teacher since joining the faculty in 2013, introducing the first undergraduate course to explore the lived experience of the disabled, and is currently working to develop a minor in disability studies. Robles is also an untiring advocate and organized the New Jersey Disabilities Action Committee which released a report in 2020 that faulted the state for failing to protect people with disabilities during the health crisis.

We are entering into a new age of scientific exploration and problem solving fueled by tremendous advances in technology that allow us to obtain knowledge at a rapid rate. To develop the foundational knowledge to fully address the major biological and medical challenges of our time, we need to recruit and retain students and researchers whose worldviews arise from differences of culture and circumstance. From genetics to neurological disorders, developmental biology to state-of-the-art scientific and computational tools, research and its applications must be informed by our diversity with attention to equity and inclusion. Since the Division of Life Sciences trains future researchers, medical, health, and wellness professionals spanning the biomedical spectrum from basic science to human health, we have an elevated level of awareness for the need to eliminate barriers and create environments for wide ranging research and education that eliminates practices that marginalize. An education informed by diversity, equity, and inclusion will improve the science and practices that will touch all aspects of life as we know it and underpin solutions to scientific challenges that will present themselves in the future.

The Division of Life Sciences engages in numerous activities that serve the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Rutgers and broadly in their respective fields. These initiatives target undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and staff members.

Below is a selected list of current programs and initiatives:

Education

Genetic Counseling Program Joins Effort to Improve Diversity

The Genetic Counseling Master's Program has joined with other schools in the northeastern United States to make this fast-growing profession more diverse. A consortium of five schools including Rutgers has received a multi-million-dollar grant that covers tuition and living expenses over the next five years for some 40 students from underrepresented groups. The $9.5 million Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling grant is being led by the Perelman School of Medicine’s Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program and funded through The Warren Alpert Foundation.

The Office of Diversity and Success in the Sciences

ODASIS—The Office of Diversity and Success in the Sciences—which began in the mid-1980s, is an academic support unit situated in the DLS focused on increasing the number of underrepresented students that are admitted to and graduate from Rutgers and enter graduate/professional school and the workforce. Over 1,400 students have graduated from the ODASIS program since its inception and Rutgers ranks #3 nationally in the total number of medical school applications by African Americans to medical school and 30th out of 125 institutions for Latinx applications.

Educators

Pioneering Teacher, Dedicated Activist

Javier Robles, a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology and Health, is an influential voice in the New Jersey disabled community and a pioneering teacher who introduced the first undergraduate course to explore the lived experience of the disabled. He is working to develop a minor in disability studies. “I love teaching, I love being in class and interacting with students,” Robles said. “The students should be able to interact with disabled people without thinking it’s something out of this world. “We should get our students prepared for whatever comes before them in life.”

Community

Center for Disability Sports, Health and Wellness

The Center for Disability Sports, Health and Wellness in the Department of Kinesiology and Health (DLS) works with students, staff, and community partners on disability issues that educate students while enhancing the community of individuals with disabilities in New Jersey and at Rutgers. During the pandemic, the center has been proactively working on a statewide committee to address Covid-19 and its impact on individuals with disabilities and their families, developing a Disability Sports, Health and Wellness conference, and advancing a national Covid-19 and Disabilities and Health conference.

Council for Leadership, Equity, and Diversity in Sport

The Council for Leadership, Equity, and Diversity in Sport (CLEDS) began in 2018 to provide students at Rutgers with the opportunity to provide service leadership in helping to address career disparities in sport, learn from professionals in sport careers who are minorities or participate in initiatives that serve under-represented groups, and provide a space for Rutgers students to address issues of equity and inclusion within the department and field of sport.

Keck Center Open House

On the first Friday of every month, the W. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience opens its laboratory to the public and presents its latest scholarship to visitors who are often in wheelchairs and accompanied by loved ones. This open house event draws people with spinal cord injuries from across the region, who come to learn about the potential treatments that the center studies.

Center for Exercise and Aging

The Center for Exercise and Aging in the Department of Kinesiology and Health has built relationships with senior communities across the region, holding exercise classes, bringing students to assisted living facilities, and helping out in the New Jersey Senior Olympics and the Middlesex County Department of Aging Senior Walk.

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