SOM AWARDS AND HONORS
Cardiovascular Center of Excellence:
David Lefer, PhD, Director of the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence, has been named the 2020 BCVS
George E. Brown Memorial Lecturer by the American Heart Association's Council on Basic
Cardiovascular Sciences. He will present his lecture during the American Heart Association's
Scientific Sessions Annual Conference November 14-16, 2020.
Orthopaedics:
Dr. Anna Cohen-Rosenblum will serve as the Medical Director of Academic Affairs for LCMC Health UMC-NO.
Otolaryngology:
Dr. Kevin McLaughlin inserted the first hypoglossal nerve stimulator in the Gulf South in a pediatric patient
with autism and Down's. Preliminary data suggests the cognitive benefits in this difficult
to treat patient population can be substantial.
Dr. Moises Arriaga has been named Senior Examiner at the American Board of Otolaryngology.
Pathology:
Elizabeth Rinker, MD, has been promoted to Full-time Associate Professor-Clinical.
Grace Athas, PhD, has been promoted to Full-time Associate Professor-Clinical.
Pediatrics:
Nephrology Division Chief Dr. Diego Aviles was named Chair of the Medical Advisory Board for the Louisiana National Kidney Foundation.
His role will be to oversee the grant applications submitted to the Foundation which
mainly support junior investigators. Dr. Aviles will serve a six-year term. As a past
recipient of this award, Dr. Aviles is honored to serve as the MAB Chair.
Drs. Isa Ashoor and Diego Aviles have been designated as NephCure Specialists. This web-based resource was created by the NephCure Kidney International Organization which supports education and research efforts for children with glomerular diseases. The NephCure Specialist program was created to address the importance of connecting patients with rare glomerular diseases to experts earlier in their diagnoses.
Dr. Gary Duhon has been promoted to Section Chief for Pediatric Clinical Care, in recognition of his tremendous performance and service in the role of Acting Chief since January 2019. In the Acting Chief role, Dr. Duhon oversaw fundamental changes in the Pediatric Critical Care Section, including moving to in-house, 24 hour attending physician coverage in the Pediatric ICU at Children's Hospital and overseeing the addition of Tulane faculty physicians into the Pediatric Critical Care service line.
Dr. Jay Hesock has been named CHNOLA's Provider of the Quarter.
Dr. Paul Hyman, LSU Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition and past Division Head, was recently selected by the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition to receive the prestigious “Margaret Stallings Distinguished Service Award for 2020.” The award recognizes excellence and major contributions to child health in the fields of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology or nutrition. Sadly, Dr. Hyman passed away in August after a lengthy illness.
Dr. Elizabeth Wisner has been appointed as Secretary/Treasurer of the Louisiana Society of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the regional society for Allergy/Immunology (Louisiana and Mississippi) which advocates for patients and physicians at the local/state and national level, and has close ties with all three academic Allergy/Immunology fellowship programs in Louisiana. Three pediatric faculty have served in leadership roles at LSAAI, representing LSUHSC and CHNOLA at these regional yearly meetings, and also at two annual national meetings. Section Head Ken Paris, MD was Vice President and then President in 2010-2013 with a few years of advisory roles after stepping down. Luke Wall, MD was Secretary/Treasurer for the last four years and now Dr. Wisner follows in his footsteps. This means a pediatric faculty member will have held or will hold a position on the board every year from 2010 -2024. Congratulations to this great group of physicians for strongly representing the department and hospital!
Dr. Lolie Yu has been selected by Governor John Bel Edwards for membership on the Louisiana State
Board of Medical Examiners.
Dr. Jovanny Zabaleta will serve as a member of the NIH's Cancer, Heart, and Sleep Epidemiology B Study
Section, Center for Scientific Review. Members are selected for demonstrated competence
and achievements in their scientific discipline as evidenced by research accomplishments,
publication in scientific journals, achievements and honors.