School of Medicine

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff for achieving special distinction this quarter:

 

Cell Biology and Anatomy

The following faculty members were awarded Excellence in Teaching awards from the Aesculapian Society:

• Dr. Terrel Master - L1 Fall Semester Award Winner 
• Dr. Hamilton Farris - L2 Fall Semester Award Winner 
• Dr. Sonya Van Nuland - Junior Faculty Award.

 

Family Medicine

Amanda Phillips, MD/MPH and LSU Lafayette Sports Medicine Program Director, was selected to train for a position as a Sports Medicine Physician for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Team. 

Susila Shanmuganathan, MD and LSU Lafayette Geriatrics Fellowship Director, currently serves as Louisiana Geriatric Society President. During her distinguished tenure, she led a team that restructured the organization, created a website, grew membership and hosted a successful webinar. As a tribute to Dr. Shanmuganathan's impact and the efforts of her team, Louisiana Geriatrics Society was awarded the American Geriatrics Society State Affiliate Award. Dr. Shanmuganathan will accept the award on behalf of LGS at the upcoming AGS Annual Scientific meeting, where she will also present the case “I'm Still Standing … Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: How an Interdisciplinary Team Got a Patient Back on her Feet“ at the Presidential Poster session.

 

Internal Medicine

All of the department's residency and fellowship programs have received ACGME Accreditation. All programs passed without any adverse decisions, warnings, citations, or a single area for improvement. 

UMC New Orleans recently celebrated Doctor's Day. Several DOM faculty were recognized for their outstanding work:

• Dr. Meredith Clement (Infectious Diseases) received the 2022 UMCNO Physician Clinical Research Award;
• Dr. Barrett Ford (Rheumatology) received the 2022 UMCNO Physician Clinic Award; and
• Dr. Bridgette Egan (Emergency Medicine) received the 2022 UMCNO Physician Community Champion Award.

The department was well represented in the 2022 Aesculapian Excellence in Teaching Awards:

• Dr. Daryl Lofaso (Advanced Education/Internal Medicine): L1 Spring Semester Award;
• Dr. Victoria Burke (Infectious Disease): L3 Staff Award;
• Dr. Taniya De Silva (Endocrinology): L2 Spring Semester Award;
• Dr. Ashley Van (Internal Medicine New Orleans): L4 Intern Award; and
• Dr. Christine Bruins (Medicine-Pediatrics): L4 Resident/Fellow Award.  

Additional nominees from the department included: Dr. John Amoss (Hospital Medicine); Dr. Alexander Say (IM-Baton Rouge); Dr. Arash Ataei (IM-New Orleans); Dr. Hope Oddo (Hospital Medicine); Dr. Katie Oakden (Hospital Medicine); Dr. Serena Aunon Chancellor (IM-Baton Rouge); Dr. Kasha Bornstein (EM/IM); Dr. David Beyer (IM-New Orleans); and Dr. Kyle Hoppens (EM/IM).

UMC has named the following faculty as Difference Makers: Drs. Zee Ali, Scott Laura, Mehnaz Rahman, Frank Smart, Cody Williams (Cardiology); Drs. Nicole Bergeron, Matthew Carlisle (Emergency Medicine); Dr. Jorge Martinez (Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine); Dr. Lobna Ali (Geriatrics); Drs. Rajasree Chowdry, Agustin Garcia, Jyotsna Fuloria (Hematology Oncology); Drs. Andrew Burke, Charles Clines, Lee Engel, Hope Oddo-Moise (Hospital Medicine); Dr. Ashaur Azhar (Infectious Diseases); and Dr. Matt Lammi (Pulmonary & Critical Care). 

The Spirit of Charity Foundation announced that Dr. Juzar Ali is the recipient of the 2022 Spirit of Charity Award. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Spirit of Charity Foundation has paid tribute to exceptional physicians who have changed lives through their invaluable contributions to medicine, healthcare and the healing power of compassion cultivated during their career at the beloved Charity Hospital. Dr. Ali will be celebrated at a gala event on Friday, October 7th at the Gravier at the Marriott Warehouse Arts District.

Dr. Lobna Ali was awarded fellowship status in recognition of her contributions to the field of geriatric medicine by the American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. Allison C. Augustus-Wallace was recently elected to serve on the Minority Affairs Committee for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She was also appointed to the editorial board of Academic Medicine, a peer-reviewed, index journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Editorial board members serve as advisors to the editor on trends in academic medicine, review submissions, assist with new content, and provide advice related to journal policies and practices.

Dr. Lauren Richey (Infectious Diseases) was accepted into the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) community of leaders program.

Dr. Yussef Bennani, Dr. Victoria Burke, and Dr. Paula Seal (Infectious Diseases) were all accepted into IDSA leadership development program.

Dr. Rebecca Lillis (Infectious Diseases) has been appointed the director of the LSU Sexual Health Clinic.

Dr. Cathy Lazarus was recently selected to serve as a co-director of the new LSU Leadership Academy. With the support of the Chancellor and Dean, the LSU Leadership Academy is set to begin its inaugural class in late spring. The year-long leadership development opportunity trains faculty in a variety of topics such as conflict management, working in teams, and how to develop others.

Dr. Nirupa Patel (rheumatology) was recently recognized as a Healio Honoree. She has mentored more than 35 fellows from India, Panama, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Japan, and Columbia, playing an active role in their lives from the beginning of their training until they joined academic or private practice paths. She is fully devoted to serving three to four indigenous clinics and stays active on boards through Rheumatology Alliance of Louisiana. During the difficult times of Hurricane Katrina, she anchored the rheumatology section and maintained school accreditation. She has mentored fellows to compete in five ACR knowledge bowls (won 3rd place twice and Spirit award once) and fellows present abstracts at ACR under her guidance.

 

The following faculty were awarded funding from the most recent round of the Dean's Research Enhancement Program:

• Dr. Tiffany Ardoin (Internal Medicine - Baton Rouge), REP Clinical Research Program. Her REP grant will investigate the outcomes of an intervention program addressing food insecurity. The FISH (Food Insecurity and Its Sequelae on Health) Study will measure the effects of the Geaux Get Healthy Program on health. Geaux Get Healthy, a collaboration between Our Lady of the Lake, LSU Health, Healthy BR and the American Heart Association and funded by Healthy Blue, connects food-insecure individuals in North Baton Rouge to nutrition education, access to affordable food and health resources.
• Dr. Michael Okoronkwo (Emergency Medicine - New Orleans), REP Health Disparities Program
• Dr. Bridgette C. Egan (Emergency Medicine - New Orleans), REP Health Disparities Program.

Dr. Scott Laura (Cardiology) has been awarded an LSU Leveraging Innovation for Technology Transfer (LIFT2) Grant to further develop a motorized device to apply rotational forces on endovascular guidewires and angioplasty hardware. Dr. Laura serves as PI for this innovative project and he will work with Dr. Tom Sharp (Cardiovascular Center of Excellence). 

DaVita Kidney Care appointed Dr. Mihran Naljayan as the New Chief Medical Officer of Home Modalities. Since Dr. Naljayan joined DaVita in 2016, there has been a 35% increase in home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments. He will continue to lead this initiative while expanding his scope as CMO of Home Modalities. Dr. Naljayan plans to continue to keep clinical work as part of the LSU Nephrology family.

 

Neurology

John D. England, MD, FAAN, Chair of the Department of Neurology and Richard M. Paddison Professor, has been elected President of the Association of University Professors of Neurology (AUPN). The AUPN represents all academic neurology departments in the United States and Canada. The position will allow Dr. England to develop policies and lobby for the interests of academic neurology and neuroscience at the national level.

 

Ophthalmology

Kevin Kirchner, MD (Clinical Assistant Professor) was presented a Service Award by the Department of Veterans Affairs for 10 years of service to the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System.

 

 

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Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Peter Krause has been awarded the LSU Leveraging Innovation for Technology Transfer (LIFT2) Grant for his project "Orthopedic Blocking Screw Aligner." Dr. Krause will be working with Dr. Charles Tayler, Director of the Digital Fabrication Center, to design 3D-printed surgical tools for use in orthopedic trauma surgery. They received a one-year grant of $27,000 to start their project. 

 

Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

Vilija Vaitaitis, MD is the new Director of Safety/Quality Improvement for the department.

Moises Arriaga, MD has been named to the Board of Directors for the North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) and as a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Otolaryngology.

 

Pathology

 

 

Dr. Ritu Bhalla, Program Director, recently received the UMC Attending Physician of the Quarter Award.

 

 

The Awards Committee of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology recently announced Dr. Sharon Fox and Dr. Richard Vander Heide as recipients of the 2021 Billingham Award for best review and original papers published in the past year in Cardiovascular Pathology. The review comes from Dr. Ali J. Marian (“Current state of vaccine development and targeted therapies for COVID-19: impact of basic science discoveries”) and the original article is the work of Dr. Richard Vander Heide and collaborators Drs. Sharon Fox and Lacey Falgout (“COVID-19 myocarditis: quantitative analysis of the inflammatory infiltrate and a proposed mechanism”). This is the third set of publications to be recognized by this award, named in honor of Dr. Margaret Billingham, a world-class cardiovascular pathologist, a pioneer in cardiac transplant pathology, and a stalwart of the Society. The authors were formally recognized at the annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology earlier this year. They were also invited to write a commentary featuring their award-winning papers to be published in CVP. 

 

Pediatrics

Dr. Raghubir Mangat received the 2022 Master Pediatrician Award from the Louisiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Dr. Maria Velez was re-elected to the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology's Board of Trustees. Her second term will commence at the conclusion of the 2022 ASPHO Conference in May and will last three years.

 

Physiology

Dr. Lisa M. Harrison-Bernard was recognized as the Tulane Medical School Department of Physiology Distinguished Alumna. She presented “Building a Postbaccalaureate Research Program in the Biomedical Sciences.”

 

Psychiatry

Dr. Amy Dickson was selected for the Louisiana Psychological Association 2022 Distinguished Service in Psychology Award which was presented to her on April 8th at the annual conference.

Dr. Nathan Brown is a newly appointed member of the Louisiana Psychological Association Executive Council as a Director.

 

Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center

Dr. Augusto Ochoa, Dr. Scott Delacroix and Eileen Mederos along with the entire staff at the Gulf South Minority Underserved NCORP program were recently recognized at the Spring 2022 SWOG Consortium as one of the Top 5 NCORP Community Sites for accruing participants into SWOG Clinical Trials.
NCI DCP Program Director for SWOG Dr. Bernard Parker thanked the group for their preeminence in maintaining patient accrual and patient care in the SWOG trials as an NCORP Community Site and said that those within NCI DCP greatly appreciated all of their efforts, especially given the ongoing COVID pandemic, describing their efforts as “herculean.”