Brigitte M. Baumann MD, MSCE is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. In 1991, she graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude with a BA in Germanic Languages and Literature. She attended Cornell Medical College, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and received her medical degree in 1995. Dr. Baumann then went on to complete two years of an internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania. After an auspicious change in career plans, she completed her emergency medicine training at the University of Pennsylvania (1997-2000) and served as chief resident in her final year. She has been at Cooper Hospital since August 2000.

Early in her career, she earned her master's degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Baumann served as the Director for Clinical Research (2001-2002) and then as the Division Head for Clinical Research (2002-2014). To date, she has coauthored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and nine book chapters. She has mentored hundreds of pre-medical students and scores of resident and faculty researchers. For her dedication to medical education, research and the practice of emergency medicine, she has received numerous awards, including an Academic Achievement Award (New Jersey ACEP, 2011) and South Jersey Magazine Top Physician (2012). Her current interests include her ongoing research and faculty development.

John D. Baxter, MD, is Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Medical Director of the Early Intervention Program at Cooper University Health Care. He is Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Dr. Baxter attended medical school at Pennsylvania State University–Hershey Medical Center and completed his medicine residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. He completed his Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at Cooper University Health Care.

Dr. Baxter has participated in NIH-sponsored HIV clinical trials since 1994, initially as the Southern New Jersey Principal Investigator for the Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA), and subsequently for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). He currently serves as the Site Leader and Network Laboratory Principal Investigator for the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT) network.

Dr. Baxter has conducted many research studies in the area of HIV/AIDS, published numerous scientific papers and lectured widely on the subject of HIV clinical management. He has expertise in antiretroviral clinical trials and the clinical application of HIV resistance testing. He was protocol chair of the CPCRA GART study, one of the first studies demonstrating the clinical utility of genotypic resistance testing in patients failing antiretroviral therapy. His research findings have influenced the treatment guidelines for care of HIV-infected individuals.

Dr. Baxter is a member of multiple professional organizations including the American College of Physicians, International AIDS Society, Infectious Diseases Society of NJ, and the Coriell Institute Institutional Review Board. He has served on a number of data safety monitoring boards (DSMBs) and expert guidelines panels. He currently chairs the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) Appointments and Promotions Committee, the Cooper Research Bioethics Committee, and the Cooper Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee.

Dr. Baxter is an award-winning clinician recognized regionally and nationally for his abilities. He has been repeatedly named “Top Doc” in every major publication in the region including Philadelphia Magazine, New Jersey Monthly, South Jersey Magazine, U.S. News and World Report and Inside Jersey Magazine. In addition, he has been recognized as one of the “Best Doctors in America.” Dr. Baxter has a special interest in HIV medical care, HIV drug resistance, HIV clinical trials and general infectious diseases.

Robert Becker, MD, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Stanford University.  He also completed a Master's of Business Administration from London Business School. He worked for many years as an engineer, product developer, and marketing consultant, conducting qualitative research on people's behaviors and needs to drive the development of new products such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems, consumer electronics, office furniture, and foods. He eventually returned to his interest in hard science and health by studying medicine. He received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University. He also completed Internal Medicine Residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center.  

As someone with type 1 diabetes and thyroid disease he was attracted to endocrinology. Moreover, the importance of behavior in managing diseases like diabetes fit with his interest in how external factors can affect people's habits. He completed fellowship training in endocrinology at Cooper University Hospital and stayed on to join the Cooper faculty in 2016.

Dr. Becker is interested in all areas of endocrinology, saying that "the feedback loops appeal to my engineering mind," but he is particularly interested in prediabetes, obesity medicine, and how nutrition affects health. 

Dr. Becker lives in Philadelphia with his wife, daughter, and son.  Outside of medicine, he plays soccer, snowboards (although not as often as he would like since moving to the East Coast), and reads a lot of nerdy science fiction. 

Talia K. Ben-Jacob MD, MSc, is the Division Head of Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology at Cooper University Hospital (CUH) and Associate  Professor of Anesthesiology at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU). She received her BS degree and MSc degree from Cornell University. She graduated from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont College with her MD. She then completed her anesthesiology residency at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ, and critical care medicine fellowship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She returned to Cooper University Hospital after fellowship graduation where she currently practices a mix of anesthesiology and critical care in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit. She has been awarded the Department of Anesthesiology Resident Champion Award in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She was also the recipient of the 2019 Cooper University Hospital Junior Faculty of the Year Award.

Dr. Ben-Jacob is also very active in her professional societies. She is a member of the SOCCA Education Committee and Research Committee. She is the founding Co-Chair of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Women in Critical Care Knowledge and Education group as well as member-at-large of Anesthesiology Section Steering Committee. Dr. Ben-Jacob also currently serves on the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Committee on Critical Care Medicine and Committee on Young Physicians. During her tenure on these committees, Dr. Ben-Jacob was chair of the revision of the Anesthesia-ACLS: First Response to Circulatory Crisis in the OR online CME module, a joint ASA/SOCCA initiative. In addition to her active roles in professional organizations, she is very involved in her hospital system and medical school. She is also a mother to three young amazing individuals.

My research in the laboratory is on pulmonary developmental pathology, with a primary focus on hyperoxia-induced injury and resolution/repair in developing lungs. Using a variety of ante- and/or post-natal animal models of experimental bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury (HALI), we study the mechanisms of molecular mediators and signaling pathways of inflammation, alveolarization and vascularization contribution to the disease phenotypes of HALI and BPD. The ultimate aim of the research laboratory is to be able to translate our work into a better understanding of the pathogenesis of HALI and BPD to allow improved targeting of therapeutic interventions. We have long-standing collaborations with physicians and scientists from various Universities and Pharmaceutical companies. Our long-term goal is to identify drug candidates for HALI and BPD. My other research interests include Neonatal Sepsis, BPD-associated Pulmonary Hypertension and use of “OMICS” (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and microbiomics) approaches relevant to premature neonates.

I am proud to have been named to SJ Magazine's list of "Top Doctors for Children 2021" in Neonatology.

Publications

Das P, Curstedt T, Agarwal B, Prahaladan VM, Ramirez J, Bhandari S, Syed MA, Salomone F, Casiraghi C, Pelizzi N, Bhandari V. Small Molecule Inhibitor Adjuvant Surfactant Therapy Attenuates Ventilator- and Hyperoxia-Induced Lung Injury in Preterm Rabbits. Front Physiol. 2020 Apr 9;11:266. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00266. eCollection 2020.

Gilfillan M, Das P, Shah D, Alam MA, Bhandari V. Inhibition of microRNA-451 is associated with increased expression of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor and mitigation of the cardio-pulmonary phenotype in a murine model of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. Respir Res. 2020 Apr 22;21(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s12931-020-01353-9.

Alam MA, Betal SGN, Aghai ZH, Bhandari V. Hyperoxia causes miR199a-5p-mediated injury in the developing lung. Pediatr Res. 2019 Nov;86(5):579-588. doi: 10.1038/s41390-019-0524-3. Epub 2019 Aug 8.

For a complete list, please see:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bhandari%2C+vineet