Calcado visits Toronto for hospital collaboration, improvements

On September 9, Antonio Calcado, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Rutgers, visited The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada, along with First Lady Tammy Murphy and Ramapo College President Cindy Jebb, according to a press release.

The Daily Targum spoke with Calcado to discuss the goals and future of his visit.

The aim of the visit was to further strengthen and support the University's existing relationship with the Canadian hospital to find novel cures and improve patient outcomes, he said.

Calcado explained that the visit is part of Gov. Phil Murphy's (D-N.J.) New Jersey Economic Mission to Canada and addresses the First Lady's maternal health initiatives to reduce maternal mortality and transform maternal and infant health. According to the press release, Calcado, Jebb and Tammy Murphy examined the current governmental initiatives to make pediatric care more accessible and train more specialists in the field.

Calcado said that this initial meeting explored shared challenges hospitals face in pediatric health and potential solutions to tackle those issues through research and technological collaborations.

In particular, he emphasized how technological advances transformed patient care in recent times, such as projecting an image of a child's home bedroom into their hospital room to make the child more comfortable.

According to Calcado, the knowledge exchange between hospitals is vital. He added that he predicts the meeting would transform into a long-term combined effort, citing a strong cause and skilled, passionate researchers.

He said the University community should recognize the impacts of collaborations, given that current University research operates around the day-to-day needs of community members.

"The community should know that we are globally engaged … not just on the economic development front, but on improving technologies, on doing research that cures … illnesses — all of the things that sometimes we just take for granted, we actually do here," he said.

Currently, SickKids and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School are collaborating on multiple projects, including ameliorating chemotherapy-induced nausea and studying the intestinal microbiome's impact on behavior and brain development.

He said that the tentative next steps after this preliminary meeting are to gather principal investigators who wish to collaborate and coordinate the application of grants and publish more scientific papers. Despite the large investment, improving care for children is paramount, he said.

"Keeping our kids healthy and productive just makes for a better society, starting right here in New Jersey," Calcado said.