Editor's Pen
Denise Flock-Williams
This past quarter marked some of the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows for the City of New Orleans. In the opening hours of 2025, a terrorist killed 14 people celebrating the new year in the French Quarter and hurt many more. Many of you were called to action, either as part of the UMC team who responded to the mass casualty event or as someone wanting to help heal the healers. Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Professor Joy Sturtevant visited University Medical Center staff as a member of a therapy animal handling team. You can read more about this in Your Neck of the Woods.
The historic snowfall in southeast Louisiana reflects a high point for many of us.
While most of the city and surrounding areas came to a stop to enjoy nature's beautiful
spectacle, many of you instead reported for a three-day shift. At my own house, my
two very young puppies and high school senior thoroughly enjoyed the downtime (pictured, right).
In other news, the library commons was named for Dr. Joe Moerschbaecher, a fitting tribute for someone so dedicated to the academic and research enterprise. You can also find an amazing interview with Dr. Paul Harch (Emergency Medicine), who saved a little girl's nose with hyperbarics in Your Neck of the Woods, or go straight to the interview here.
As always, I hope you enjoy reading about all the current amazing work you and your colleagues are accomplishing. I express my gratitude to those who make this newsletter possible, from those who take time to send me updates and photographs to the dedicated team who produces the newsletter each quarter: Dr. Judy Crabtree, Todd LaGrange, and Dr. Stephanie Taylor.
Please continue to tell me about your work! You can email me at dflock@lsuhsc.edu anytime with an idea for a story, information or pictures that we can share.