Inaugural NJ Discovery Showcase Spotlights Researchers & Processes

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Apr 30, 2025

Twelve New Jersey research scientists from higher education, healthcare and the private sector made presentations yesterday at the inaugural New Jersey Discovery Showcase ’25 held at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.

The event, sponsored by the HELIX (Health + Life Science Exchange), the three-building, 1.5 million-square-foot innovation district that is being developed by Devco in New Brunswick, was a celebration of discovery.

Chris Paladino, Devco president, told New Jersey Business Magazine, “Quite often, we celebrate the end result of innovation and not the process. This event celebrates not only the process, but the people who do the research. This is not only to excite people about R&D, but also to show respect for the people who conduct it.”

Among the 12 presenters was Dr. Danielle Dick, director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center, who discussed how new advances in genomics may stop addiction before it starts.

Bishnu Pandey, a doctoral researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, addressed the critical challenges associated with PFAS contamination in soil, drinking water, and wastewater and how innovative treatment techniques, such as using aeration to safely remove PFAs without creating new problems, are being implemented.

Meanwhile, Dr. Olivier Loudig, an associate member of the Center for Discovery and Innovation, which is affiliated with Hackensack Meridian Health, discussed the research programs being developed for biomarker discovery in breast, lung, prostate and pancreatic cancers.

The inaugural showcase is the type of event Paladino said will be held frequently at the HELIX. “We will have events like this to discuss the research that is going on at the complex. A lot goes on in an ecosystem like this, and these events can get people to collaborate as they learn what their colleagues are doing in other parts of the HELIX site. They may have suggestions or answers to the problems others are working on,” Paladino said.

“The HELIX champions research and development … and we mean all of it; from applied research to translational research to startups to groundbreaking product launches,” he concluded.

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