School of Medicine

Medical Students, Graduate Students, Residents, Fellows and Post Doc News

Anesthesiology
Five residents graduated from the Anesthesiology Residency Program (pictured, left to right):

• Harrison Winslow, MD – private practice in Washington state
• Wilfredo Borroto Bechara, MD – private practice in Puerto Rico
• Kiana Fahimipour, MD – Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship in Ohio
• Selina Garcia, MD – academics in California
• Zhongpan Zheng, MD – private practice in California.

The graduation ceremony was held at Galatoire’s.

 

The department’s students recently found out where they matched, with some staying in Louisiana and some as far away as the Pacific Northwest.

Family Medicine
Dr. David Mas and Dr. Arden Lagrone, PGY-3 residents (image, right) at the LSUHSC Family Medicine Program in Lafayette, presented posters at the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians Conference in New Orleans:  

• David Mas represented his team, led by faculty Deidre Stelly, and presented Un Momento: Can we talk? Team members included Madelyn Lavergne, MD, and Claudius Jean Baptiste, MD. Dr. Mas and Team Stelly were awarded first place. 
• Arden Lagrone represented her team led by faculty Ashanti Smith, MD and presented From Shrugs to Skills: Mastering the Shoulder Exam in the Family Medicine Clinic. Team members included Thomas Vu, MD (First Author), Patrick Orange, MD, and Raquelle Collins, MD.

The 2025 graduates of the Family Medicine Program in Lafayette are: (Pictured left beginning with the top row) Blaine Boutte, MD; Shea Inman, MD; Logan Pittman, MD; Susana Rac, MD; Joshua Paek, MD; Kristy Chin, DO; and Claudius Jean Baptiste, MD.

 

 

 

 

Medicine
The new chief residents for 2026 – 2027 are (left to right): Dr. Alex Fixler, Dr. Stephany Nguyen, and Dr. Luke Sharrock.

The department celebrated outgoing chief residents Dr. Michael Millet and Dr. Jessica Bordes.

The Internal Medicine Residency Program – Baton Rouge celebrated the Class of 2025, including Dr. Carlie Falgout who received the Chief Resident Award and Dr. Jacob Nelson who received the Baton Rouge Resident Teaching Award.

LSU-Lafayette held graduation for 11 residents at City Club in River Ranch. Pictured left to right: Top Row Yazan Alqara, MD; Jason Simon, MD; Manpreet Singh, DO; Anthony Yeh, DO; Michael Nguyen, MD; Andrew Carbajal, MD; and Kyle Stroda, DO. Bottom Row: Nadjel Opamen, MD; Erica Jones, MD; Suzanne Cooper, MD; and Mekha Mathew, DO. 

 

Amit Rajkarnikar, MD (PGY 2) received Lafayette Resident of the Year; Michael Nguyen, MD received the Summit Award; and Katherine Blaise, MD was awarded Intern of the Year.

 

 

 

 

 

IM and Med-Peds residents were well represented at the annual Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Forum. Dr. Nali Gillespie won the award for best oral presentation and Dr. Amit Rajkarnikar and Dr. Ashwin Narayana (Lafayette) won the best poster presentation in the Medical Education & Curriculum category with their poster "Improving Hepatitis A and B Vaccination rates in Adults with Hepatitis C and Chronic Liver Disease in an Internal Medicine Residents Clinic." In addition, Dr. Humza Malik (IM resident), Dr. Allison Derise (IM resident), Dr. Nali Gillespie (medicine-pediatric resident) and Dr. Tat Yau (Infectious Diseases) gave oral presentations: 

• From Knowledge to Action: Assessing the Influence of Provider Education on Vaccine Importance - Dr Tat Yau (ID)
• Optimizing Efficiency: Enhancing Early Morning Patient Discharges for Improved Healthcare Delivery - Dr. Humza Malik, Dr. Allision Derise, Dr. Chantal Wickman (IM resident)
• Standardizing Naloxone Co-Prescription to Promote Harm Reduction in Pediatric Sickle Cell Pain Management - Dr. Nali Gillespie (Med-peds resident).

Dr. Jeffrey Mauras (PM&R Resident) was recently selected as President Elect of the LSU School of Medicine-New Orleans House Staff Association for AY 2025-2026.

The department recently announced the Resident’s Choice Awards:

• Internal Medicine Resident of the Year – Dr. Charlie Woodall
• Categorical Intern of the Year - Dr. Mary Katherine Moore and Dr. Kristen Williams (tie)
• Preliminary Intern of the Year – Dr. Whitney Sternfels
• EM/IM Resident of the Year - Dr. Matthew Johnson and Dr. Keyur Patel (tie)
• Med/Peds Resident of the Year – Dr. Chloe Spears
• Med/Peds Intern of the Year – Dr. Dan Ta
• Fellow of the Year – Dr. Tammy Do, Nephrology Fellow

The Section of Emergency Medicine awarded the following:

• Gabrielle Williams, MD - Intern of the Year
• Benjamin Castin, MD - Outstanding Junior Resident Award
• Sancia Bredy, MD - Resident of the Year
• PGY3 Resident Josh Lara, MD and Joshua DeBlieux, MD - Clerkship Teaching Awards -
• John Nguyen, MD - SonoStar Award
• PGY4 Residents Kersti Bellardi, DO and Alexander Hua, MD - Social EM Champion Awards
• Joshua DeBlieux, MD - Williams J. Bradley Award
• Alex Woodbridge, MD - Albert J. Lauro Award

 

Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Several medical students and residents contributed to publications this past quarter:

• Bonaventure CA, Stark MW, D'Souza JN. Oral Mass in an Infant. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 May 29. doi: 10.1001/jamaoto.2025.1167. PMID: 40440034.
• Richard C, Shakhtour L, Gallo N, Smith R, MacDonald CB, Gentry R, Scheerer H, Arnold SR, Carrillo-Marquez MA. Audiological Outcomes of Cytomegalovirus Saliva PCR-Positive Newborns in Support of Universal Screening. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 Jun 12. doi: 10.1002/ohn.1332. PMID: 40504068.
• Azmeh O, Barber SR, King M, Arriaga MA. Early results with hypofractionated gamma knife radiotherapy for treatment of vestibular schwannoma. Am J Otolaryngol. 2025;46(5):104674. doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2025.104674
• Robillard K, Ovaitt AK. Alternatives to flaps and grafts for management of forehead Mohs defects. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. Published online May 13, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.otc.2025.103456

The department held its 28th Annual Resident Research and Alumni Day with guest lecturer Dr. Theda C. Kontis (Johns Hopkins University). Dr. J. Christian Lemoine, Dr. Kurt Mueller, and Dr. Carley Boyce were named presentation winners. The department extends its gratitude to Drs. Lacey Adkins and Leslie Son for their mentorship.

Drs. Adam J. Blancher, Christine A. Matthews, Kurt C. Mueller, and J. Logan Sobiesk were celebrated as the Resident Class of 2025 for the Chair’s Graduation Party.

Dr. Carley Boyce presented “Invasive Fungal Sinusitis due to Candida auris in an Immunocompetent Patient” at the LSUBR/OLOL Quality + Research Day and “External Auditory Canal Stenosis in a Pediatric Trauma Patient Population” at the LSU Medicine Research Poster Day.

Dr. Kurt Mueller visited the Newman School Kindergarten Class. He walked them through the anatomy of the ear, as well as ear functions, and brought out an otoscope to show how doctors check ears at pediatrician visits.

 

 

 

Pathology
Dr. Julia Rivera, Chief Resident, accepted a Hematopathology Fellowship at the University of Rochester in New York.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Yu Liu, PGY3, accepted a Gynecologic Pathology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

 

 

 

The department congratulated their recent graduates:

Many residents and fellows authored journal publications this past quarter:

• Ayesha Younus, MD and Yu Liu, MD, PhD. Segmental atrophy of the liver: a review of rare pseudotumor in World Journal of Clinical Cases.
• Jihuan Chen, MD, PhD and Liz Yang, MD. Diagnostic considerations for gastrointestinal stromal tumors with altered immunophenotype following Imatinib treatment in Human Pathology Reports.
• Yu Liu, MD, PhD, Asra Feroze, MD, and Liz Yang, MD. Morphological and Immunohistochemical Support for the Origin of the Carcinoid Component in Strumal Carcinoids: A Case Report and Literature Review in Diagnostics.

 

Pediatrics
Child Neurology's Dr. Kayla Pence recently published an article in Neurology with graduating LSU medical student, Robert Austin Clark. You can read the article here.

Pediatric hematology and oncology fellow Dr. Anna Simon presented "Evaluating the Phoenix Sepsis Score as a Predictor of In-Hospital Mortality in Pediatric Hematopoietic Cell Transportation" (co-authors: I. Shukla MD, K. Phelps MD, L. Yu MD, Z. LeBlanc MD) at the Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC). She was awarded the Young Investigator Travel Award.

Dr. Simon also presented "Ruxolitinib as a Targeted Therapy in a Pediatric Patient with IGH-EPOR Rearranged B-ALL" (co-authors: C. Nieves MD, Z. LeBlanc MD) at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (ASPHO) meeting.

 

 

Two other hematology/oncology fellows also had their work recognized at the ASPHO meeting:

Dr. Heather Valdin presented "Lack of Sickle Cell Reproductive Awareness Deters Comprehensive Care and Pursuit of Curative Therapy" (co-authors: D. LeBlanc MD, J. Farge MD, J. Huber MD, P. Prasad MD, Z. LeBlanc MD)

 

 

Dr. Casey Treuting presented "Acute Onset of Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia In 12-year-old with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia" (co-author: J. Farge, MD)

 

 

Allergy/Immunology fellow Dr. David Van presented a case of "Food-Dependent Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis" at the 51st annual Louisiana Society of Allergy Asthma and Immunology held in New Orleans.

 

 

Dr. Chelsey Sandlin hosted an awards ceremony for graduating residents. Award winners included:

• Madeleine Stansberry, MD and Nicholas Tadros, DO - Penny Scurto, MD Outstanding Pediatric Resident Award
• Vivek Patel, DO - Outstanding Medicine/Pediatric Resident Award
• Morgan Viviano, MD - Gretchen Life, MD Award, awarded to the graduating resident who embodies Gretchen’s zeal for life and love for patients
• Vivek Patel, DO - Outstanding Cardiology Resident, selected by cardiology faculty to recognize a resident with outstanding clinical and professional performance on the rotation
• Leah Smith, DO - Outstanding Hematology/Oncology Resident, selected by hematology/oncology faculty to recognize a resident with outstanding clinical and professional performance on the rotation
• Lexi Glaser, MD - Outstanding Pediatric Critical Care Resident, selected by pediatric critical care faculty to recognize a resident with outstanding clinical and professional performance on the rotation
• Jesus Jaile, IV, MD - Outstanding Fellowship Teaching Award, awarded annually by the residents in recognition of outstanding teaching and mentoring skills
• Nali Gillespie, MD; Hope Retif, MD; and Morgan Viviano, MD - Alfonso Vargas, MD Research Award, for the residents who demonstrated outstanding performance in pediatric research
• Eleanor Koonce-Oubre, MD - Intern of the Year Award, given annually by pediatrics PGY 1, 2 and 3 acknowledging an intern who exemplifies the values of a pediatrics residency: dedication to the care of patients, advocacy for their patients, professionalism, interdisciplinary collaboration, and collegiality among residents
• Holly Monk, MD - Pediatric Alumni Award

The department hosted the 2025–2026 Fellows Orientation to welcome their newest group of fellows as they begin their training journey. 

Chief Resident Dr. Nicholas Tadros and Critical Care Division's Dr. Nihal Godiwala recently published a case report titled "Disseminated Herpes Simplex Virus Complicated by Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in a Neonate" in Frontiers in Pediatrics.

Physiology
Graduate student Kaitlin Couvillion won the 2025 Endocrinology & Metabolism Research Recognition Award from the American Physiological Society.

Stephanie Lee and Nicholas Harris helped orchestrate the Third Annual MD/PhD Program Retreat (Beyond the White Coat: Cultivating Purpose in Medicine, Science, and Self) featuring wellness and productivity talks from LSUHSC-NO faculty and an immersive yoga experience from Kaitlin Couvillion.

Postdoctoral trainee Eden Gallegos won the 2025 Virendra Mahesh Endocrinology & Metabolism Award from the American Physiological Society.

Gallegos was also elected the American Physician Scientist Association (APSA) National Mentorship Chair for the 2025-2026 term.

Gallegos gave a talk entitled "Alcohol and Metabolic Stressors Synergistically Increase Triglyceride Content and Oxidative Stress in a MetALD Spheroid Model"at the American Physiology Summit in Baltimore, MA.

Gallegos gave a talk entitled "Interaction of alcohol and diet on bioenergetic adaptations in HIV; insights from bidirectional translational longitudinal studies" at the 48th RSA Scientific Meeting/ISBRA Congress in New Orleans, LA.

Postdoctoral trainee Keishla Rodriguez Graciani won the 2025 Martin Frank Travel Award from the American Physiological Society. She also won the 2025 Junior Investigator Meeting Award from the Research Society of Alcohol.

Graciani also gave a talk entitled "Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Resilience: Impact of Exercise on People with HIV and Alcohol Misuse" at the 48th RSA Scientific Meeting/ISBRA Congress in New Orleans.

Radiology
The department welcomed Jagnoor Benipal from LSUHSC-NO and Bao Nguyen from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine to the Interventional Radiology Class of 2031.

Sayan Chatterjee from the University of California; Indigo Johnson from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Adrian Para from the University of Miami; Loren Ugheoke from the Morehouse School of Medicine; and Eli Thompson from the University of Arkansas matched with the department’s diagnostic radiology program.

Claire Holmes and Chikamuche Anyanwu were recognized for the Resident Trainee Appreciation Award at the VA during Resident/Fellow Appreciation Week.

 

Dr. Rebecca Chason was selected for the Society of Interventional Radiology’s Giving Circle for the Advancement of Women award for 2024. The Giving Circle’s mission is to advance the professional growth and success of women in Interventional Radiology.

Graduating senior residents are set to complete their fellowships and begin their careers:

• Rebecca Chason has accepted a one-year position with LSUHSC-NO before returning to her home state of Texas.
• Harry Cahill is joining Jefferson Radiology Associates.
• Taylor Bragg will complete an MSK fellowship at Emory.
• Chika Anyanwu will complete an IR-Independent fellowship at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine.
• Colin Rutner has a neuroradiology fellowship at Mallinckrodt.
• Jared Lajaunie will complete a neuroradiology fellowship at LSUHSC-NO.
• Easton Downs has a neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Vermont.

The department announced 2025-2026 incoming residents:

Interventional Radiology:

• Peyton Hopkins
• Cayley LeBlanc

Diagnostic Radiology:

• Sierra Voice-Robinson  
• Jose DeCastro Vazquez
• Austin Gothe
• Mitchell Hsu
• Alexander Polski

The department announced 2025-2026 incoming fellows:

• Jared Lajaunie - Neuroradiology Fellowship
• Joseph Hanthorn - Neuroradiology Fellowship
• Beren Chandler - MSK Fellowship