FDU Unveils FDU Health Connected Care & Innovation Lab
Cutting the ribbon to officially open the new FDU Health Connected Care & Innovation Lab are Sien Avalos, Director of Social Investing at BD and Vice President of the BD Foundation; Ellen Rafferty, Associate Director, Social Investing at BD; Ami Simunovich, Executive Vice President, Chief Quality & Regulatory Officer, and Public Affairs at BD; FDU President Michael Avaltroni; University Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Benjamin Rifkin; Dean of the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Anastasia Rivkin; and Chief Innovation Officer for FDU Health and Executive Associate Dean at the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Chadwin Sandifer.
April 28, 2025 — Fairleigh Dickinson University celebrated another significant milestone in healthcare education with the ribbon cutting and grand opening of its FDU Health Connected Care & Innovation Lab.
Based at the University’s School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences near the Florham Campus, the lab is another critical component of the University’s strategic focus on healthcare and innovation, which includes the University’s breadth of programs under FDU Health and the newly introduced FDU HealthPath Forward, which seeks to redefine health education and training through industry partnerships, interdisciplinary collaboration, experiential learning and community and campus-integrated hubs for lifelong learning, health and well-being.
The new FDU Health Connected Care & Innovation Lab helps further this vision said President Michael Avaltroni. “We are committed to integrating academic learning with real-world training, providing competitive advantages for our students and helping to address the critical demands of the healthcare sector.”
The lab features cutting-edge technologies, including a prototype holographic communications platform, and serves as a central training environment for nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant and allied health students.
The purpose of the lab, Avaltroni said, is to utilize technology in an innovative way “to be able to deliver more effective patient care, to be able to move patient care into our communities and homes and to be able to deliver a higher quality patient experience as we train our students to be the next generation of practitioners.”
More than 70 people were on hand to celebrate the occasion including University officials, students, partners and industry leaders. Among the special guests were Ami Simunovich, Executive Vice President, Chief Quality & Regulatory Officer, and Public Affairs at BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a global leader in medical technology. BD’s support played a major role in the development of the lab and Tom Polen, the chairman, CEO and president of BD, also made a special appearance at the ceremony with a hologram message that showcased the lab’s technology.
President Michael Avaltroni and Tom Polen, the chairman, CEO and president of BD, demonstrate a hologram message that showcases the lab’s technology.
“We have been fundamental partners since our inception in 1942,” Avaltroni said. The two institutions share common founders and a mutual commitment to progress, innovation and impact. BD has also played a critical role throughout FDU’s history in supporting student success at FDU through scholarships and academic programming.
Simunovich reflected on the longstanding partnership between BD and FDU and the aligned missions that brought the Innovation Lab to life. “It all began with a handshake. (Becton and Dickinson) forged a long-lasting partnership built on a love of innovation, a love of patient care and entrepreneurship… If we continue to focus on our purpose, advancing the world of health with patients at the forefront, we can’t go wrong.”
Simunovich also emphasized that BD’s support of the lab is an investment in workforce development, research and the future of healthcare, not just for FDU, but for the communities that both institutions serve.
President Avaltroni invited attendees to tour the lab and further explore FDU’s growing network of innovative health learning environments, including the Virtual Pharmacy, the Health at Home Simulation Suite, the Community Care and Interprofessional Simulation Lab, and the Digital Dissection Lab. “The goal is that these spaces become more than the rooms, that they truly become future-facing learning environments. And most importantly, as we cut the ribbon today, that we see this as the start of a much longer journey and the beginning of a new era of connected care and innovation.”