Rutgers FXB Center Names New Leaders to Boost Health Outcomes and Access

Jamie Steiger, executive director, and Joanne Simone, deputy director, bring decades-long experience in workforce development, capacity building, community outreach and administration in New Jersey and nationwide

The François-Xavier Bagnoud Center (FXB Center) at the Rutgers School of Nursing has appointed Jamie Steiger as executive director and Joanne Simone as deputy director.

Steiger, the center's director of administration and finance, and Simone, an education specialist, have served in interim in these positions since the retirement of the former executive director, Andrea Norberg, who departed in October 2025 after 22 years with the center.

"Both leaders bring decades of combined experience within the Rutgers School of Nursing, ensuring a seamless transition and a reinforced commitment to health equity for children, families and communities with the greatest need in New Jersey and nationally," said Angela Starkweather, dean of Rutgers School of Nursing.

Steiger, who has worked in the center for two decades, was the director of administration and finance since 2013, managing the operations and budget for the $35 million grant-funded center. Under her direction, she has conducting center-wide assessments that streamlined operations and improved administrative systems, served as the principal investigator for the state-funded Ending HIV Epidemic Awareness Campaigns (EtE) project, which delivered targeted prevention and education to at-risk communities, and advised executive leadership on sustainability and growth.

As interim executive director, Steiger led the successful launch of a high-profile EtE digital campaign to raise awareness of routine HIV testing and served as a champion for HIV-related funding during the national advocacy event AIDSWatch 2026, directly engaging representatives and policymakers about the work of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center and the federal programs that fund it.

Simone, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, joined the center in 2012 as an education specialist with clinical expertise and commitment to public health equity, to lead the initiative know as Implementing a National Framework to Eliminate Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in the U.S.

During her tenure as education specialist and principal investigator, Simone led regional and statewide efforts to assist health care professionals providing care to people with or affected by HIV and substance use disorders, coordinated Fetal and Infant Mortality Review activities for HIV and congenital syphilis and developed a statewide network of partners to implement strategic health systems interventions.

In her interim role, Simone led efforts to expand the center's Harm Reduction Health technical assistance and capacity-building infrastructure to deliver coordinated, interdisciplinary support to mental health clinicians and low-threshold buprenorphine providers working in harm reduction settings statewide.