Editor's Pen
Denise Flock-Williams
Dear friends and colleagues,
This issue was completed in the hours just before Ida made landfall. My heart is breaking for our community as I watch from a hotel room all the different levels of tragedy and difficulties we are facing in the next days, weeks and months. But I know we will come out stronger, because we always do. I look forward to sharing stories of how our faculty, residents, fellows, students and staff served the community, the school and the state in the next issue.
In our June issue, I wrote about my sadness related to Dr. Moerschbaecher's retirement. I couldn't imagine not having his steady presence on the eighth floor of the Resource Center, which of course extended well beyond the building to the entire campus. It was another level of grief entirely to learn he had passed away.
I first met “Dr. M” in 1996. Baptist Community Ministries had just formed, and my boss, Bert Wallace, tasked me with submitting worthy projects to this new foundation. I worked with Dr. M to submit a proposal for Tigers Under the Rainbow, a community outreach program that worked to provide children with after-school activities and alternatives to illegal drugs. The program was funded, and I had the opportunity to work with him over the next year. When Bert later successfully negotiated a $5 million gift from Pfizer, Inc., I worked closely with Dr. M again on the LSU Biomedical Research Fund and the competition for and administration of those funds. For two decades, I handled the proposal submissions to the Board of Regents' endowed professorship, scholarship and chairs program which provided many, many opportunities to work with him on all things related to the program. Through all of this, I came to know his deep and unwavering commitment to LSU Health, and to all those who also worked hard to fulfill its mission. He was loyal, generous with his time and insight, and quite funny. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have known and had the chance to work closely with him, and miss him deeply.
The Lafayette Regional Campus is facing loss as well, mourning the sudden and unexpected passing of David Reehlmann.
Beyond the sadness there is much to celebrate. Two medical students put their training to good use to assist a passenger with a medical emergency aboard an airplane. Researchers have a powerful new tool for computational analysis. The School of Medicine continues to be awarded high profile grants and honors. As always, I thank all of those who have shared these successes with me, so that I can share them with all of you. Please continue to contact me at dflock@lsuhsc.edu anytime with an idea for a story, information or pictures that we can share. I extend additional thanks to Dr. Judy Crabtree, Todd LaGrange, and Dr. Richard DiCarlo, who work behind the scenes to get each issue published.