Dr. Frank Smart Will Serve as Associate Dean for Clinical Innovation and Investigation

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Frank Smart will serve as the inaugural Associate Dean for Clinical Innovation and Investigation. Frank is currently the LSU Department of Medicine Section Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Heart and Vascular Service Line at University Medical Center, New Orleans. He is an LSU School of Medicine (SOM) alum and joined the faculty in 2011.

During the twenty years prior to joining the LSU faculty Frank served as: Director of Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation and Medical Director of Transplant Services at Ochsner Medical Center; Associate Chief of Cardiology and Director of Cardiac Transplantation at Tulane University School of Medicine; Director of Heart Failure, Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Texas Heart Institute and Baylor College of Medicine; and Department Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine Atlantic Health, a 3-hospital system of Morristown Memorial, Overlook and Mountainside Hospitals in Morristown, NJ. He has had a distinguished academic career and is an accomplished clinical investigator. He has served as site-PI or co-PI for over 80 clinical trials and had minor roles in several others. He has also co-authored 155 publications and seven book chapters.

This new Associate Dean position is part-time but reflects the commitment and support of Interim Dean Richard DiCarlo and Interim Chancellor Steve Nelson to our faculty and their development in the arena of clinical research. The primary goal of the Associate Dean for Clinical Innovation and Investigation will be to expand clinical research through process improvement within LSUHSC and our partnering clinical sites, and through faculty mentorship. Frank will facilitate communication between SOM faculty and SOM business managers and the clinical trials staff in the LSUHSC Office of Research to process specific study contracts expeditiously. He will also serve as the liaison between the SOM/SOM Departments and the LSUHSC Office of Research, clinical research sites (clinics, hospitals, and Clinical Trials Unit) and industry to expand the volume of clinical research and clinical trial opportunities for our faculty. He will initially focus his efforts on expanding our clinical research at UMC-NO.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Smart as we welcome him to his new role as Associate Dean for Clinical Innovation and Investigation.