EJB Talks: Rutgers Bloustein School Experts

In this episode of EJB Talks, Stuart Shapiro  interviews Professor Michael Smart , beginning with how he became involved in transportation planning and its impact on poverty and racial bias. Professor Smart shares his background in transportation, discussing how his work with people reentering society after incarceration and the transportation challenges they faced led him to focus on this area. T...

Our EJB Talks podcast this week features Joel Cantor⁠ , Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy  and Kathe Newman , Professor and Director of the Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement . They are part of a new Rutgers initiative, the  Housing and Health Equity Cluster , which aims to address health equity issues through interdiscip...

This week Stuart Shapiro talks to Assistant Professor Emily Parker about her research interests in community health centers and how they originated from her work assisting with Affordable Care Act implementation in New York state. In this EJB Talks episode, she explains what federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are and their history in serving underserved communities. Parker discusses how FQ...

Dean Stuart Shapiro talks about the path to a career in health administration with Assistant Teaching Professor Jane Kaye on EJB Talks this week. Professor Kaye shares her unconventional path to healthcare which began in art history. After working in various policy roles she went on to obtain an MBA, eventually becoming a hospital CFO. She discusses the complexities of hospital revenue cycle manag...

Stuart Shapiro returns for our 10th season of EJB Talks with alumnus Brandon McKoy MCRP '13, who was recently named the president of The Fund for New Jersey. An alumnus of the Bloustein School's urban planning program, Brandon talks about his recent career advancement, including an overview of previous role at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and his earlier time at The Fund for...

We're closing out the semester--and the season—of EJB Talks with a discussion of the tumultuous political events of 2023.  Dean Stuart Shapiro and former podcast producer Amy Cobb MPAP '18 reflect on the challenging year, specifically in the House, where unexpected developments have unfolded. They delve into the chaotic dynamics within the Republican Party, the potential ramifications of K...

This week on EJB Talks Dean  Stuart Shapiro  talks to three Bloustein School undergraduates who participated in the Rutgers Summer Service Washington DC (RSS DC) internships. The students discuss their reasons for participating in the initiative, including its impact on academic and professional growth. Public health major  Gwen Matsukawa gained valuable experience as a legislative intern, learnin...

As we head into a short break during Thanksgiving week, dean  Stuart Shapiro  interviews  Juan Ayala , a professor in the school’s  world-ranked urban planning program . Their discussion begins with the distinctions between architecture and urban design, emphasizing the historical separation of individual building design and broader urban landscape planning. Ayala highlights the crucial role of ur...

As we continue to bring awareness to the Bloustein School's new Disability Studies minor, dean Stuart Shapiro talks to Professor Cynthia Simon, who is teaching the inaugural course for the minor this semester. Growing up as a child with a disability, Simon shares how her early studies about the civil rights movement piqued her interest in political science and law and eventually led to teachin...

This week on EJB Talks Dean Stuart Shapiro welcomes Professor Ceu Cirne-Neves , who teaches in the Bloustein School's health administration program. Ceu talks about her journey from journalism to healthcare administration, her extensive career in hospital administration, and the significant changes in the healthcare industry that she has experienced over the years. Emphasizing the impact of pa...

Dean Stuart Shapiro interviews assistant professor Bernadette Baird-Zars , whose research interests span land use, governance, construction permitting, and the role of community-based organizations in reshaping planning processes. They discuss her interest in planning and how it works in practice, drawing from her experiences working on urban regeneration projects during her time living in Syria....

With our return to EJBTalks this fall, host and Dean  Stuart Shapiro  talks to  Mark Paul , assistant professor and author of the recently released book,  The Ends of Freedom . Mark discusses his journey into economics and environmental policy, sharing how his first working experiences in a restaurant witnessing inequality and food sustainability issues drove his interest in economics and climate...

On our season 8 finale, Stuart welcomes Amy Cobb back to ask questions about the indictment of President Trump They also discuss what other charges may be coming next and talk about the Republican Party response. Then Amy asks Stuart for his early take on the 2024 election. 

On this episode of EJBTalks, Stuart welcomes one of Bloustein's new Public Health Professors, Yen-Tyng Chen . The two talk about how the personal impacts of the 2003 SARS outbreak inspired Professor Chen's interest in Public Health. Professor Chen then shares how her experiences during her PhD studies at Emory inspired her personal and intellectual interest in how race and built environmen...

On this episode of EJBTalks, Stuart Shapiro⁠ welcomes one of our new professors in the public policy program, ⁠ Ruth Winecoff⁠ . Professor Winecoff talks about the inspiration behind her research on municipal bonds, and the important role they play in our country. This is particularly true for our towns and municipalities. She discusses Dodd-Frank legislation on the heels of the Silicon Valley Ban...

This week on EJBTalks, Stuart Shapiro welcomes a new professor from the school's undergraduate public health program, Derek DeLia . Professor DeLia explains how he became interested in the field of health economics and talks about his 25-year career in health policy and health services research. He also shares details about his recent research regarding limb salvage versus limb amputation and...

On this episode of EJBTalks, Stuart Shapiro welcomes one of our new professors in our nationally-ranked Urban Planning Program , Andrea Restrepo-Mieth . Her time in Colombia as a child to her graduate studies and her time in Southeast Asia led to her path working on water issues in the global South. She also describes her current focus on the impacts of climate change on water and water systems. T...

On this week's episode of EJBTalks Stuart welcomes Professor Shar Williams . The two talk about her undergraduate roots at Rutgers' Douglass College and the inspiration that led her on her path to an academic career in public health and biostatistics. Shar shares with Stuart the research she has done in areas of depression, anxiety, suicide and PTSD and the findings that show exposure to&nbsp...

This week on EJBTalks, Stuart Shapiro welcomes Professor Jim Samuel , Executive Director of the school's  Master of Public Informatics program Talking about his professional path from architecture to the business and finance sector, Professor Samuel explains how the global financial crisis inspired him to take a deeper look at the Big Data phenomenon. They also discuss the synergy betwee...

It's our eighth season opener of EJBTalks! This season we are focusing on our amazing new faculty. For our first episode, Stuart welcomes the new Director of our Health Administration program, Professor Ellen Kurtzman . Ellen talks about her compelling career path, from nurse to health policy educator to health administrator. She speaks to Stuart about the commonalities in the fields she has worke...

For our last #EJBTalks episode of 2022 Stuart Shapiro talks with urban planning alum Gretchen Minneman Kostura MCRP '07. They discuss her journey from a student focused on community development to her professional work in transportation. After starting her career in the Port Authority Leadership Fellows program, she moved to her current position working for the CEO and President of Amtrak. She tal...

This week on EJBTalks Stuart Shapiro welcomes Bloustein alum and current Bloustein School Advisory Board member Moses Salami EJB (Public Health) '11. As the Director of Business Development and Marketing at St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark, NJ, Moses describes his path into the health administration and marketing fields. He details how a class during his senior year with Bloustein Schoo...

On this episode of EJBTalks, Stuart Shapiro welcomes alum Simon Liepold MPAP '05, who came to the Bloustein Public Policy program as part of an exchange program with Konstanz University in Germany. Simon talks about his current role as Senior Director of UN & International Relations for Microsoft. He describes his efforts on global topics like sustainability, privacy, and cybersecuri...

On this episode of EJBTalks it's time to talk politics! Stuart Shapiro welcomes Amy Cobb back to recap the 2022 Midterms. The two talk about who won, who lost, competitive key races and what the future may hold. Tune in to find out more!!  

On this episode of EJBTalks Stuart welcomes Bloustein PhD alum and Drexel University Professor, Andrew Zitcer . Professor Zitcer describes his personal and intellectual journey as a PhD student at Bloustein.  He then discusses his dissertation concentration on cooperative ventures and gives details about what types of co-ops exist from food to health, who they serve and how they are a physica...