LRC Staff Announce Plan to Join Rutgers
The Lighting Research Center is not necessarily moving to Rutgers, but many of its people are.
As reported in July, the Director of the Lighting Research Center, Mariana Figueiro, PhD, announced plans to join Rutgers University effective September 1. She is now leading two new programs focused on aging and on sleep and circadian research at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS).
Dr. Mark Rea who originally founded the Lighting Research Center in 1988 is taking over as Interim LRC Director. In a letter to RPI and to other lighting collaborators, Dr. Rea announced that he and the "majority" of current LRC staff will eventually be joining Dr. Figueiro at Rutgers, citing Rutgers' association with a medical university as one of the main considerations.
"We deeply appreciate all of the encouragement and best wishes from colleagues and sponsors. The legacy of pioneering work will continue under new leadership."
Dr. Mark Rea, Lighting Research Center
We imagine that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the current and original home of the LRC, owns many of the assets of the LRC, including, potentially, the name. With heavily credentialed researchers, PhDs and scientists, the knowledgeable staff is arguably the biggest asset of the LRC and that appears to be shifting to Rutgers.
In Dr. Rea's letter, he explained that current LRC staff may stay in NY for family and personal reasons.
The Letter we received from Dr. Rea:
Dear LRC community, colleagues, collaborators, and friends,
I wanted to personally give you an update on the current status of the LRC and our plans for the future.
As many of you may already know, Dr. Mariana Figueiro has joined the faculty of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine as Division Chief of Sleep and Circadian Medicine and the Institute for Health as the Director of their newly established Center for Healthy Aging, effective September 1, 2020. The majority of the current LRC team has decided to also join this new Center at Rutgers University.
I will serve as interim LRC Director until the end of the year, at which time it is likely that I will join Mariana and the team at Rutgers. I expect to conduct research and support Mariana in an advisory capacity as research faculty at Rutgers University. The team will continue to have a presence in Troy to minimize disruption of our families. We remain committed to fulfilling all of our contractual obligations and, importantly, our commitment to the current LRC graduate students for this academic year. Future logistical and academic arrangements will be announced before the end of this year.
Making the decision to move to Rutgers was not easy and we reached that conclusion only after many months of evaluation and deliberation. With the LRC’s increasing focus on health-related projects, it became abundantly clear that association with a leading medical university, heavily invested in fostering a vibrant research environment, is paramount for our collective success.
But above all, Rutgers’ vast resources, their belief in translational health research, and their full commitment to our mission made a compelling case to join forces with this leading medical institution.
We hope the LRC’s 32-year track record speaks for itself and we greatly appreciate the support we have received from Rensselaer during this period. As we close this chapter of the LRC and begin a new phase of our research and education, I want to thank all of our present and past industry partners, colleagues, staff, students, and alumni for 32 years of excellence, productivity, honesty, and mutual respect.
We invite you to join us as we continue our journey at Rutgers University.
Mark
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