Message from the Executive Director

Strengthening Communities Globally

Andrea Norberg, DNP, MSN, RN
FXB Center Executive Director

For more than 30 years, the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center has been committed to improving the health of vulnerable women, children, youth and families, and to building capacity in the communities and systems that serve them. Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, the FXB Center has contributed to every major development in pediatric and perinatal HIV, including the landmark PACTG 076 protocol for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT); the first antiretroviral treatment guidelines for children; the first international pediatric HIV training program; and the first national resource center and website dedicated to sharing state-of-the-art pediatric HIV information with providers and consumers. We are very proud of our history and contributions to the field. This history has afforded us significant opportunities for growth into new areas.

Today, through the dedication of a multidisciplinary team of administrators, community outreach workers, nurses, nutritionists, physicians, psychologists, public health professionals, and social workers, the FXB Center is widely recognized for the delivery of comprehensive client and family-centered health care in its Child Health Program and HIV Clinical Practice. The Child Health Program, a regional leader, has emerged as a national model of care for children and families involved with child welfare. Led by nurse practitioners and integrated within the Rutgers Community Health Center, our HIV Clinical Practice utilizes an interdisciplinary model for HIV care that is comprehensive, culturally competent, family-centered, and community-based.

FXB Center’s evolving research programs are directly informed by and address health needs of vulnerable groups affected by profound health disparities. Research questions directly arise from gaps encountered in knowledge and practice and we are well positioned to translate new evidence into clinical practice and to more broadly share tools, resources and learned approaches through our existing national and international networks.

By forming coalitions through strategic and innovative partnerships among stakeholders we influence health care policy, improve clinical practice and strengthen systems of care. Our approach allows interdisciplinary healthcare leaders to be engaged in national stakeholder working groups utilizing adult learning approaches and extensive group process skills that facilitate problem-solving, decision making, and implementation of new programs. Our continuing education and technical assistance programs achieve, retain, and strengthen professional competencies among healthcare professionals we serve and improve the quality of care that is provided.

I continue to feel extremely honored and humbled to work with this extraordinary FXB Center team. Together we lead more than 14 grant-funded programs throughout the nation and world, always remembering and drawing upon our unique experiences and history of caring for children and families living with HIV in northern New Jersey.

I encourage you to explore our website and familiarize yourself with our programs, resources and continuing education, and to contact us if you need additional assistance.

We look forward to collaborating with you.

Andrea Norberg, DNP, MSN, RN
Executive Director
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center
FXBCenter@sn.rutgers.edu
973-972-5644