Your Neck of the Woods
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Suresh K. Alahari presented “Novel small molecules effectively suppress the growth of triple negative
breast cancer” and “Genetic Engineering Approach to Study the Function of a Novel
Gene, Nischarin” recently at two
universities in India. He presented to the School of Medicine and the School of Biotechnology
at Kalinga University, in Bhubaneswar, India and the to the Department of Zoology
and the Cancer Center at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, India.
Genetics
Dr. Sunyoung Kim was an invited panelist at the USA/Canada Licensing Executives Society’s recent conference.
The panel, headlined by Congressman Troy Carter, focused on encouraging strategies
to build
robust and resilient ecosystems in entrepreneurship. Other panelists included licensing
executives from profit and non-profit entities.
Internal Medicine
The Internal Medicine Special Interest group held their first meeting of the year.
A record breaking 64 students attended to listen to Dr. Cynthia Brown discuss Internal Medicine and answer questions from the group. Dr. Fred Lopez serves as a faculty advisor.
Dr. Paul Harch (Emergency Medicine) recently had a poster presented at an international pediatrics intensivist conference in collaboration with colleagues at Loma Linda. They presented results of hyperbaric treatment for a child after a non-fatal drowning.
Dr. Sanjay Kamboj (Hospital Medicine) was recently elected to serve as Vice Chair for the LSU Council of Faculty Advisors for 2024 - 2025. This council serves as a liaison between the university and the faculties of all the LSU campuses. The council will communicate the views and concerns of the faculties on institution-wide matters regarding academic and professional policies of LSU campuses through the Office of the President to LSU.
Dr. Kamboj was also recently interviewed on KALBTV News Channel about the FDA approving Neffy as the first nasal spray for allergic reactions. His interviews can be found here: http://my.tvey.es/z9ZMp and https://www.kalb.com/2024/08/13/fda-approves-neffy-1st-nasal-sprayallergic-reactions/
Dr. Mehnaz Rahman (Cardiology) was recently selected to participate in the Women as One 2024 CLIMB Prevention Program which offers training and events crafted specifically for women in cardiology that are uniquely designed to address the barriers women face in their working environments, clinical skills training, professional development, and safety training.
Dr. Rahman was also the invited speaker for Cardiology Grand Rounds at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Her talk was entitled “The Right of Way: Avoiding Wrong Turns in Ventricular Assessment.”
Dr. Rahman was also chosen as a member of the Louisiana Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review (LA-PAMR) Committee. The committee received over 55 applicants.
Dr. Victoria Burke and Dr. Fred Lopez's (Infectious Diseases) Infectious Disease Update presentation at the American College of Physicians Annual Session in Boston was highlighted in a recent “The Curbsiders” podcast.
Dr. Vanessa de la Cruz (Community & Population Medicine) has been appointed to the Office of Behavioral Health Medical Director for the Louisiana Department of Health. Dr. de la Cruz will provide expert consultation and assistance relative to the development, implementation, and maintenance of high-quality and evidence-based behavioral health services for children, adolescents and adults. She will also supervise Louisiana's Opioid Treatment Authority and work closely with Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System and Central Louisiana State Hospital clinical directors, the clinical directors of other program offices and departments, and other clinical subject matter experts within OBH and Local Governing Entities.
Dr. Kasha Bornstein (4th year EM/IM resident), Dr. Ben Springgate (Community and Population Medicine) and partners from the FIT Clinic and VOTE were highlighted in a recent NOLA.com article by Emily Woodruff on experiences of people with opioid use disorder in the Orleans Justice Center (Orleans Parish jail).
Dr. Springgate has been appointed to Senior Policy Advisor to Louisiana Department of Health for Addiction and Substance Use. He will work closely with LDH leadership and across program offices to ensure strategic alignment in programming and policy development related to opioids, substance use disorder and harm reduction.
Dr. Springgate, Dr. Elyse Stevens, Dr. Gala True, Isha Matta, Dr. Wesley Villavicencio Torres (Section of Community and Population Medicine/Center for Healthcare Value and Equity), and Dr. Tiffany Ardoin (LSU Internal Medicine – Baton Rouge), together with community and academic colleagues of the Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network (C-LEARN) published a University Partnership Research Brief through Louisiana Department of Health entitled the “Promoting Resilience Among Medicaid Members with Opioid Use Disorder (PROUD) Study.”
Dr. True was also recently interviewed by CBS National News for Eye on America about her work with the Armory Project, which facilitates and studies ways to reduce suicide risk among veterans and others through voluntary firearm storage by potentially suicidal individuals at firearm retailers across Louisiana and other states. The CBS piece highlights the impact firearm storage is having as well as describes the legislation that Dr. True and several Veterans supported that protect businesses that provide firearm storage.
Dr. Springgate and Dr. Pete Croughan (Community and Population Medicine) were quoted in The Times Picayune/Nola.com about opportunities for funds from the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force to address the overdose crisis in Louisiana.
Dr. Paula Seal, Dr. Lauren Richey, and Dr. Tat Yau (Infectious Diseases) recently presented at the 2024 National Ryan White Conference
on HIV Care and Treatment in Washington D.C. The team presented 
"Healthy Balance Weight Management Initiative in HIV Care." In addition, Dr. Richey
and Dr. Kaitlyn Catanzarite (LSU Psychology Postdoctoral fellow at UMCNO ID Center) presented "Addressing the
Mental Health Care Needs of People with HIV in RWHAP (Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program)-Funded
Clinics."
The Infectious Diseases section and several IM faculty and residents participated in the recent ID Week 2024 in Los Angeles. The following faculty and residents had posters and presentations:
- Perceived Importance of Adult Immunizations among HIV Providers in New Orleans, Louisiana - Dr. Yau (ID), Dr. Blane Edwards (IM resident), and Dr. Richey (ID)
- Impact of an Innovative Educational Initiative Using Community-Based Organization Partnerships to Reach Young Adults at Risk for HIV: Dr. Meredith Clement (ID)
- Introducing PrEP to Primary Care: A Resident-Focused Initiative: Dr. Hope Oddo Moise (IM APD/ID), Dr. Maren Bell (ID fellow), Dr. Danielle Gilbert (ID fellow), Dr. Daniel Holmes (IM), Dexter Matrana (IM APD), Dr. Clement (ID) (travel award recipient)
- HIV Retention in Care and Viral Suppression among Transgender Women in a Large Ryan White Clinic: Dr. Gilbert (ID fellow), Dr. Oddo Moise (IM APD/ID), Dr. Richey (ID) (travel award recipient)
- UnLEISHing a Fever in an East African Man: Dr. Oddo Moise (IM APD/ID), Dr. Gilbert (ID fellow), Dr. Yau (ID), Dr. Burke (ID), Dr. Yussef Bennani (former ID faculty)
Ophthalmology
The department is hosting Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, FACS as this year’s lecturer for the annual George S. Ellis, Sr, MD Endowed Lecture. Dr. McDonald is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. The lecture will be held on December 13th at 5 pm in the Clinical Sciences Research Building Room 563. For more information or to register, email Josh at jbutri@lsuhsc.edu
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Dr. Jill D’Souza was a panelist in the discussion “Using Large Databases to Identify the Impact of Social Vulnerabilities of Health on Pediatric Cancer Care.” at the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting in Miami in September 2024.
Drs. Stephen Hernandez and Katie Melder served as presenters and proctored the American Rhinologic Society (ARS) Pre-Meeting Sinus Dissection Course in Miami in September 2024.
Dr. Hernandez also presented on sinonasal malignancies at the Louisiana Cancer Registrars Association Annual Meeting in October 2024.
Dr. Laura Hetzler will give Grand Rounds on Cleft Care at the University of Missouri in January.
Dr. Kevin McLaughlin has been invited to assume the role of faculty and consultant for Inspire Medical Systems, Coordinating Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulator Education Programs.
Dr. McLaughlin also served as presenter and panel moderator at the International Society of Sleep Surgery (ISSS) Meeting in Miami in September 2024.
Dr. Lisa Morris, Dr. Hetzler, and Dr. Alyssa Ovaitt were panelists and speakers at the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFRPS) annual meeting in October 2024.
Drs. Morris and Dr. Hetzler are presenting at the Cleft and VPD Interactive Conference in November 2024 at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC.
Dr. Rohan Walvekar, Dr. Sagar Kansara, and Dr. Rula Mualla, in partnership with CSurgeries, successfully hosted the Mervin L. Trail Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) Symposium on October 4th, 2024. The symposium highlighted advancements in transoral robotic surgery and radiation therapy as well as discussed treatment paradigms for HPV+ Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Dr. Walvekar was also a panelist in the discussion “Is Parotidectomy Indicated for Chronic Sialadenitis?” at the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting in Miami in September 2024.
Dr. Moises Arriaga made an oral presentation at the AAO-HNSF) in Miami in September: Azmeh OW, Barber SR, King M, Arriaga MA. Early Results With Hypofractionated Gamma Knife Radiotherapy for Treatment of Vestibular Schwannoma.
Pathology
Recent departmental scholarly activity includes:
- "Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma with an Abnormal Surface CD3-/CD4+ T-cell Population Detected by Flow Cytometry Immunophenotyping of Involved Lymph Nodes-Report of a Case," Angelle Jolly, MD, Rachna Jetly, MD, MPH. ICCS 2024
- "Exploring TFE3-Rearranged Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Study Showing Minimal Expression of PAX-8," Julia Rivera, MD, Ritu Bhalla, MD. ASCP 2024
- "Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis as an Unusual Presentation in a Patient with Human Immunodeficiency Virus-associated Bone Marrow Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Case Report with Literature Review," Julia Rivera, MD, Rachna Jetly, MD. ASCP 2024
- "Death Due to Embolic Renal Cell Carcinoma," Angelle Jolly, MD, Gordon Love, MD. Blue Ribbon Finalist, ASCP 2024
- "Solid-basaloid Variant of Mammary Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma – Report of an Unusual Case with Literature Review," Liz Yang, MD, Haibo Wang, BMBS, PhD, Angelle Jolly, MD, Zhiyan Fu, MD. ASCP 2024
- “Diagnostic And Post-Therapeutic Histopathology of Hansen’s Disease in a Man With Rheumatoid Arthritis," Ayesha Younus, MBBS, Sharon Fox, MD, PhD. Blue Ribbon Finalist, ASCP 2024
- "Conclusive Evidence for the Origin of the Carcinoid Component in Strumal Carcinoids and a New Morphological Pattern," Yu Liu, MD, PhD, Asra Feroze, MBBS, Liz Yang, MD, Ridin Balakrishnan, MD. ASCP 2024
Pediatrics
Dr. Dana LeBlanc and Dr. Zach LeBlanc (Hematology/Oncology) recently participated in the Louisiana Sickle Cell Commission's
Symposium in Lafayette (image, left).
Dr. Dana LeBlanc also recently traveled to Washington, DC for the American Society of Hematology Advocacy
Leadership Institute. While there she visited Capitol Hill to lobby for increased
NIH funding and the passing of the Sickle Cell Disease Comprehensive Care Act.
Dr. Luke Wall (Allergy and Immunology) was recently invited to give an oral presentation entitled "FOXP1: An Inborn Error of Immunity?" at the First International Research Conference on FOXP1 Syndrome held at Duke University earlier this year.
Physiology
Dr. Jason Gardner was appointed to a three-year term as a standing member of the NIH/NIAAA AA-1 Study Section.
Dr. Scott Edwards presented a talk titled “Substance Use Disorders & Treatment Considerations for People with HIV” to the School of Dentistry General Practice Residency Program.
Dr. Lisa Harrison Bernard organized and presented at the Professional Development Workshop: Recognizing and Mitigating Microaggressions for Physician Assistant Students.
Dr. Patricia Molina presented talks titled “Role of alcohol history and diet in development of comorbidities in the NOAH cohort of patients livening with HIV” and “Findings from bidirectional translational studies on alcohol-induced alterations in the gut-liver-brain axis” at the 3rd World Congress on Alcohol and Addictions, Melbourne Australia.
Psychiatry
Dr. Sebastián Del Corral Winder (Psychology) presented in October at the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), Gulf Coast Chapter Fall Meeting on Medical Spanish: Improving Health Equity Through Education.
Dr. Nathan Brown (Psychology) and a colleague presented at the Southern Medical Association Burn Conference in North Carolina in October on electrical burn injuries among Latino/Hispanic individuals.
Members of the section of psychology recently enjoyed coffee and beignets together
at Cafe Du Monde in City Park.
Radiology
Dr. Alexandra Fairchild was selected to serve as a distinguished faculty member at the Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons Minimally Invasive Surgery Week in Lake Buena Vista, FL. She presented “An Interventional Radiologist’s Role in Treating High Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction.”
Dr. Fairchild also presented, “Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE)” at the University of Tennessee annual “Contemporary Issues in OB/GYN” CME course in Destin, FL.
Dr. Hector Ferral presented several exhibits and moderated multiple sessions at The Portal Intervention Symposium in Chicago, IL. He served as a moderator and panelist on “Diving into Portal Hypertension & Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunts (TIPS);” “Portal Interventions: Pushing the Envelope;” “Controversies in Hypertension: Let the Debates Begin!” and “Management of Hepatic Encephalopathy.” He also presented “TIPS through Alternative Accesses Femoral, Left IJ, Paraumbilical” and “Liverty: TIPS Kit”
Dr. Anandraj Kanwar presented an educational exhibit, “Pictorial Review of Olfactory Cleft Lesions” at the American Society of Head & Neck Radiology annual meeting in San Diego, CA.
Dr. Kanwar also moderated a session titled, “Adding Value in Head & Neck Imaging: Clinically Oriented Differentials” at the Western Neuroradiological Society annual meeting in Kohala Coast, HI.
Dr. David Smith was selected to serve as faculty at the first annual Association of Pulmonary Advanced Practice Providers (APAPP) National Conference in Las Vegas, NV.