Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and interim director of Rutgers’ Waksman Institute of Microbiology.
Exploring Excellence at Rutgers
Standing among the nation's leading research universities, Rutgers is acclaimed for the achievements of our people and for their contributions to society in the pursuit of education, research, and health care—for the greater good.
Rutgers' Latest Innovation in the Fight against COVID-19
Rapid Diagnostic Test for Virus Variants
What’s different about the Rutgers COVID-19 variant test? It cuts from days to hours the time it takes to obtain results. Rutgers shared this latest innovation on an open-source basis to serve the greater good, enabling swift, responsive test modifications as new variants emerge, with more than 1,000 downloads to date.
The new rapid test is easy to set up and can be adapted for labs that use varying types of equipment and methods. The open-source test is free to use as described or modify as needed.
“This rapid test was developed and tested over a few weeks in a crash program to respond to a serious public health need,” said David Alland, director of the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) Public Health Research Institute and professor and chief of infectious disease at NJMS. “Despite our hurry to get the test completed, it performed extremely well. We hope that this test will help in the control of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic.”
Pictured: David Alland
A Global Leader in COVID-19 Research
- First saliva diagnostic test for COVID-19
- Verified effectiveness of first rapid point-of-care diagnostic test
- Developing breathalyzer test for fast COVID-19 results
- Clinical trial site for Pfizer vaccine in children under 12
- Clinical trial site for Johnson & Johnson vaccine
- Clinical trial site for Moderna vaccine
- One of the nation’s largest studies of workers exposed to COVID-19, used for clinical trials
- $5 million NIH grant to expand COVID-19 testing for New Jersey’s underserved
And our work continues. At the Center for COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, our scientists are accelerating the discovery of new diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for coronavirus and preparing now to respond to future epidemics.
Finding Solutions to End the Pandemic
Rutgers is making game-changing contributions in the fight against COVID-19.
Phase 3
Clinical trial site for leading COVID-19 vaccines
1st
Saliva diagnostic test for COVID-19 was developed at Rutgers
$5 Million
NIH grant to expand COVID-19 testing for New Jersey’s underserved
An Essential Global Science Resource Enabling Breakthroughs in Biological and Biomedical Research and Education
RCSB PDB (Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank) is the world’s only free, open-access 3D digital library for proteins, DNA, and RNA. A vital public data resource that drives discovery and innovation, PDB is led by Rutgers, in collaboration with University of California–San Diego/San Diego Supercomputer Center and University of California–San Francisco.
PDB Impact and Outcomes
- 180,000+ 3D structures of proteins, DNA, and RNA
- 2 million+ structure data files downloaded daily by users
- 1 million+ published scientific research papers relied on open access to PDB data
- 90% of FDA-approved anti-cancer drugs were facilitated by PDB structures [2010 to 2018]
- 1,400+ SARS-CoV-2 protein structures in PDB help combat the pandemic
- $18 billion: That’s the replacement value of data safeguarded by PDB
A top-25 national public university, Rutgers is an academic and research powerhouse. Rutgers' main locations are in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden, and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences is an academic health leader.
#1
Best African American History graduate program
U.S. News & World Report
#1
Best Women's History graduate program
U.S. News & World Report
#2
Philosophy program is one of best in the world
QS World University Rankings by Subject
#4
Nationally ranked for Food Science and Technology
Academic Ranking of World Universities
38 Graduate Programs Rank Among the Nation’s Top 25
This year, 38 Rutgers graduate programs, in a wide range of disciplines, place among the nation’s top 25 in U.S. News & World Report rankings—just what one would expect of a leading, comprehensive research university.
Rutgers stands among the nation’s highest-ranked, most diverse public research universities. The oldest, largest, and top-ranked public university in New Jersey, Rutgers is one of only 65 higher education institutions in the Association of American Universities, whose members are North America’s leading research universities.
New Jersey’s Preeminent Public Institution of Higher Education
Top 15
Urban Planning and Policy programs
U.S. News & World Report
Top 20
Nursing master's and doctoral programs
U.S. News & World Report
Top 25
Graduate Pharmacy program
U.S. News & World Report
A selection of recent awards and honors speak to the scholarly influence of our faculty—an affirmation that their endeavors are what make Rutgers an academic, research, and clinical powerhouse.
New AAAS Fellows
Four Rutgers professors have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor awarded by their association peers.
AAAS fellows pursue scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
Inaugural chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and the executive vice president for Health Affairs at Rutgers University.
Adjunct professor at Rutgers’ Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.
Professor in the management science and information systems department at Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick.
Rutgers Scholar Earns Prestigious Cundill History Prize
With her translation and analysis of Nahuatl sources debunking commonly believed myths about the Aztecs, Camilla Townsend, Distinguished Professor of History in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers–New Brunswick, received the 2020 Cundill History Prize for her work, Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs.
The award recognizes books that best embody historical scholarship, originality, literary quality, and broad appeal.
“Camilla Townsend revolutionizes how we should look at Aztec society before, during and after the arrival of Europeans in Central America,” said Peter Francopan, the prize’s 2020 jury chair. “After more than 500 years, we are finally able to see history through the eyes of the Indigenous people themselves rather than those of their conquerors. Not many books completely transform how we look at the past. This is one of those that does.”
One of Only 16 Universities to Earn the Distinction for the Past Decade
Rutgers is proud to stand among those universities sending the most Fulbright Students abroad. Our 193 Fulbright Students have traveled to 35 host countries, bringing with them their knowledge of subjects as varied as biomedical engineering, marine science, philosophy, and political science.
Meet Three of Our Latest Fulbright Recipients
Rutgers University–New Brunswick is again on The Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual list of Top-Producers of Fulbright U.S. Student Grants, a distinction shared by some of the nation’s most elite institutions. Learn more about three of our 15 Fulbright recipients.
Public Policy and Korean
School of Arts and Sciences
Destination: South Korea
Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies
School of Arts and Sciences
Destination: Indonesia
Fulbright Bulgaria-Greece Joint Research Award
School of Graduate Studies
Destination: Greece and Bulgaria
Excellence Spotlight: Envisioning Justice
With a $15 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant, Rutgers University established the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice to provide opportunities for faculty whose work addresses racism and social inequality to collaborate in ways that lead to meaningful action.
An intellectual corridor that connects scholars and ideas, the institute amplifies work in the humanities to dismantle racism and end systemic inequities.
Brilliant Scholars at Rutgers
Every day, our students are pursuing knowledge that prepares them for success and improves the quality of life for people around the world. Meet three among many of our finest.
Marshall Scholar
Maya Ravichandran
Ravichandran was one of only 46 students in the nation awarded the postgraduate scholarship.
Read more.
Fried Frank Civil Rights Fellow
Juan Estrada
Prestigious law fellowship will send Estrada to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the international law firm Fried Frank in New York City.
Read more.
Ertegun Scholar
Jonas Tai
Tai is among an exclusive group of scholars worldwide to capture the elite humanities scholarship.
Read more.
Noteworthy Publication
The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans, published in February 2021 by Oxford University Press, is the latest book by Jonathan Holloway, the 21st president of Rutgers University. Holloway is an eminent historian and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His scholarly work specializes in post-emancipation U.S. history with a focus on social and intellectual history.
The text offers a brief telling of the complex history of African Americans—from the arrival of enslaved Africans at Jamestown to the Black Lives Matter movement—and challenges readers to consider what it means to be an American.
Research Excellence
Breakthroughs in knowledge—technology, the humanities, or health care—are the essence of a top research university. At Rutgers, we have a strong track record of discovery—from finding a cure for tuberculosis to developing eco-friendly building materials, just to name a few.
$750.8 Million
Research grants and sponsored programs
2019 data
Top 100
World’s most innovative universities
Reuters (2019)
1,300+
Active issued worldwide patents
2019 data
A Leader in Health Care
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences conducts research, trains health professionals, and provides patient care through our Rutgers Health practice, New Jersey's sole academic health care provider organization.
2.1+ Million
Annual patient visits to Rutgers Health practices
470+
Clinical trials in process
1,300+
Clinical providers working to advance top-quality health care
Points of Pride
Chartered in 1766, Rutgers is the eighth-oldest college in the nation. Our charter was granted by King George III of England and signed by William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey and son of Benjamin Franklin.
Rutgers perennially appears in the most respected annual listings of the world's top universities. And we are the only university in the United States that is a colonial college, a land-grant institution, and a leading national public research university.
Rutgers faculty include members of the National Academies and winners of the National Medals of Science and Technology; Pulitzer Prizes; Guggenheim, MacArthur “Genius,” and Simons Fellowships; Fulbright Scholarships; and NSF CAREER Awards.
Rutgers is proud to be The State University of New Jersey, the Garden State's premier, comprehensive public research university, with educational and outreach programs that reach residents in all 21 New Jersey counties.
Rutgers and its partners form one of the nation's largest academic health care systems, and the largest in New Jersey.
Our students receive an outstanding education that prepares them for a future of leadership and success and is also a great value. Forbes magazine ranks Rutgers as #29 in the nation as "Best Value Colleges."
Rutgers Experts in Demand
Every day, Rutgers faculty, students, and staff appear in global, national, and regional news outlets. Last year, 624,416 news stories cited Rutgers.