Somerset, NJ, March 31, 2015 ― In an interview with NJBIZ’s Andrew Sheldon, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) President and Chief Executive Officer Dean J. Paranicas underscored a potential threat to the often-touted workforce that makes up the state’s strong life sciences industry.
“New Jersey has the largest out migration of students to other places of any state in the United States,” Paranicas told Sheldon. “It’s well established that when students go to another state to go to school, a high percentage don’t return to their home state, so it’s helpful having an infrastructure — both in the public sector in the private sector — that can sustain and support New Jersey’s students.”
But the Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Pharmacy, the first new degree-offering school of pharmacy in the state since 1892, is emblematic of the state’s revitalized efforts to expand its entire life sciences infrastructure through investing in education.
“Having a second (school of pharmacy) should enhance the ability of more New Jersey citizens to be able to be educated in pharmacology in New Jersey, and hopefully (they) would be able to find employment here after they graduate,” he said.
“Certainly, we are working — if you look at what’s been happening in our higher education system overall — at an expansion and enhanced focus,” Paranicas told Sheldon.
“The School of Pharmacy at FDU is a good example of a commitment to try and strengthen our innovation ecosystem,” Paranicas added.
This ecosystem received a shot in the arm when the state voted in favor of the Building Our Future Bond Act of 2012. The law provided $750 million to the state’s public and private colleges and was the first legislation of its kind in a quarter-century.
“That was pivotal because it allowed our institutions to reinvest and bring their facilities up to where they need to be to meet the demands of the 21st century, in terms of what’s happening in the life sciences,” Paranicas said. “That is, positioning our universities to be able to compete effectively as part of our innovation ecosystem in New Jersey.”
For Sheldon’s full NJBIZ story, click here.