Listen to this articleThe National Organization for Rare Disorders has designated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, in partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, a National Rare Disease Center of Excellence, the RWJBarnabas Health facility announced Dec. 3.
RWJUH is the first hospital in the state to receive the designation. Across the nation, there are fewer than 50 such Centers of Excellence, according to the NORD website.
“This prestigious designation highlights our academic medical center’s deep commitment to delivering world-class, multidisciplinary care and advancing research that holds the promise of breakthroughs for patients with rare and complex conditions,” said Bill Arnold, CEO of RWJUH, president of the RWJBarnabas Health Southern Region and executive vice president of RWJBarnabas Health.
In focus
Founded in 2021, NORD‘s Rare Disease Centers of Excellence Program is the first national network dedicated to diagnosing, treating and researching the full spectrum of rare diseases.
The program emphasizes care and research networks that focus on a single rare disease or small groups of rare diseases. Participating centers share knowledge and best practices to improve outcomes and foster innovative research.
NORD selected the Garden State facilities based on their Cardiac Amyloidosis Center. RWJBarnabas Health established the unit “to diagnose patients with rare, but potentially fatal, amyloid conditions earlier and treat them more effectively through personalized medicine,” according to the center’s website.
The cardiac center offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary care across cardiology, neurology, hematology, nephrology, pathology and bone marrow transplantation.
Leading the mission
Dr. Sabahat Bokhari and Naveena Yanamala will lead the newly named The New Jersey Center for Rare Disorders at Rutgers University as director and co-director, respectively.
Bokhari is a professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension at RWJMS as well as the director of Advanced Cardiac Imaging and director of the Cardiac Amyloidosis Center at RWJUH.
Yanamala is an associate professor of medicine at RWJMS. She also serves as section chief of clinical research and director of the Center for Innovation at RWJUH and RWJMS. Additionally, Yanamala is a leader in data science and AI.
Dr. Partho Sengupta, chief of cardiology at RWJUH and RWJMS, congratulated the center’s new leaders, saying, “Their collaborative approach will help build a dynamic network of physicians and researchers united in the mission to address rare diseases through innovation and teamwork.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:39 p.m. Dec. 3, 2025, to include the newly unveiled name of The New Jersey Center for Rare Disorders at Rutgers University.
