Your Neck of the Woods
Cell Biology and Anatomy
Alyssa Ransom served as a faculty grader for the TEAM UP initiative for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice
Third-year medical student Logan Roberts was on the panel How students, graduates, faculty and administrators collaborate to support interprofessional education and practice at the American Dental Education Association meeting in New Orleans earlier this year. Authors: T. Gunaldo, S. Andrieu, H. Allen, M. Bourgogne von Hohenstaufen, M. Davis, A. Huotari, A. Kreko, L. Roberts.
Scott Edwards recently gave the oral presentation, The importance of interprofessional education in developing collaboration-ready biomedical scientists for translational research at the American Physiology Summit in Long Beach. Authors: S. Edwards, D.J. Devier, S. Gasparini, T.P. Gunaldo, H. Mazumder, L. Simon, X. Tian, A.C. Augustus-Wallace
Internal Medicine
The LA ACP resident and student meeting was recently held in the CALS building. More than 180 abstracts were submitted, with LSUHSC-NO having the most. Internal medicine residents were selected for 18 posters and oral presentations; additional student oral and poster presentations had associated LSUHSC-NO faculty and residents. Dr. Jamie Tran won for her oral presentation and Dr. Ryan Leonard won first place for the resident poster session (out of 50 spots). All the presenters at the meeting were recognized in the online publication for the Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society. The department also had judges who volunteered their time. Dr. Najy Masri coached the LSU IM Jeopardy team made up of Drs. Luke Sharrock, Ryan Leonard, Scott Piechocki.
The Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine section held its 68th Annual Tri-State Pulmonary Case Conference Seminar at UMC earlier this year. The day featured pulmonary case presentations by visiting programs including University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of South Alabama, University of Mississippi Medical Center and LSU Shreveport, as well as local presentations by the LSU New Orleans and Tulane programs. This year’s keynote, How to Make Us All Better Teachers, was given by Dr. Patricia Kritek, Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The event was well attended and a huge success. UMC, Ochsner, and Tulane helped support this academic event.
Dr. Allison Augustus-Wallace was a speaker for the American Public Health Association’s Health Administration Section and Mississippi Public Health Administration’s virtual panel discussion focusing on innovative ways public health professionals nationwide are solving emerging and current public health problems.
Dr. Augustus-Wallace was also a speaker for the Group on Diversity and Inclusion Professional Development Conference’s session, Advancing Women of Color by Keeping Gender Equity Intersectional.
Dr. Charles “Bo” Sanders (Medicine) and Dr. Efrain Reisin (Nephrology) were recently honored for 40+ and 30+ years of service respectively to the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Julio Figueroa (Infectious Diseases) was recently interviewed for the Nola.com article “Two cases of measles in kids confirmed in the New Orleans metro area; first since 2018” on identified cases of measles at Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Meredith Clement (Infectious Diseases) presented Cabotegravir Maintains Protective Efficacy in the Setting of Bacterial STIs: HPTN 083 at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections earlier this year.
Dr. Victoria Burke and Dr. Fred Lopez (Infectious Diseases) presented the Infectious Diseases Annual Update to the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Physicians during the recent annual meeting.
Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology
Jeff Hobden appeared on Fox 8 New Orleans in February to discuss why sinus problems are worse in the winter and chronic sinusitis versus a stuffy nose. He was interviewed again in April to discuss the importance of childhood vaccines.
Neuroscience Center of Excellence
Dr. Nicolas Bazan gave the keynote address, Uncovering Principles to Sustain Neurons’ Long Lives: Signaling Redundancy and Resiliency at the Onset of Neurodegenerative Disease, at the Baton Rouge chapter of the Society for Neuroscience’s inaugural symposium, Bringing Minds Together. His lab was well represented at the conference, with 12 accepted posters.
The Neuroscience Center of Excellence recently welcomed University of California San Francisco School of Medicine’s Dr. William Seeley. He presented the Chancellor’s Award Lecture in Neuroscience and Medicine, titled Selective Vulnerability in FTD and ALS: Emerging Tools and Concepts.
Neurosurgery
The department recently sponsored the 8th Annual LSUHSC New Orleans Neurosurgery -
Kline Legacy - Peripheral Nerve Dissection course. This educational course draws guest
faculty instructors from prestigious universities across the country. Many of these
expert instructors served as Kline Peripheral Nerve fellows decades ago. This hands-on,
comprehensive course details the surgical approaches to all peripheral nerves, including
the brachial and lumbar plexus, utilizing fresh, donor cadavers prepared by the department
of anatomy. The Kline Peripheral Nerve course is an invaluable surgical training opportunity
for medical students, residents (neurosurgery, neurology, orthopedics, plastics, trauma, anesthesia), and any other
practitioners with interests in peripheral nerve anatomy, offering instruction by
experts in the field of peripheral nerve injury and repair.
The course has been sponsored by the department and held in the Russell Klein Center for Advanced Practice on the LSUHSC New Orleans campus.
Office of Medical Education
The School of Medicine hosted the 2024 Simulation Medical Training and Education Council
of LA (SMTEC-LA) Simulation Expo in April in the Human Development Center. The state
committee, led by Dr. Daryl Lofaso (SMTEC-LA Council Chair), hosts this one-day conference
every other year and invites learners from across Louisiana. The Expo registered around
250 participants and exhibitors. Participants had the opportunity to learn about the
newest simulation trends and products to enhance their healthcare teaching potential
at their individual high schools, technical colleges, universities and hospitals.
This event provides professional development and opportunity for collaboration related
to simulation training in healthcare. Dr. Michael Seropian and Dr. Dawn Taylor-Peterson served as keynote speakers. Dr.
Seropian's presentation focused on Using Simulation to Develop Individual Skills and Improve Team Performance.
Dr. Taylor-Peterson's presentation emphasized Interprofessional Debriefing: Best Practices and Tools for Success. Other guest lecturers presented topics such as Selecting and Developing Simulation Scenarios and Cases Using an Escape Room Design - Immersive Learning Transforming Nursing Education with Virtual Reality. The Simulation Expo 2024 website can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gzHCZaYD
Ophthalmology
Dr. Aravinda Rao, Associate Professor & Fellowship Program Director, and Dr. Maria
Reinoso, Associate Professor & Residency Program Director, spoke to medical students
at the Annual Medical Education Conference of the Student National Medical Association in March. (Photo, Dr. Rao is left, Dr. Reinoso is end right)
Dr. Rao also spoke with WVUE to discuss the eclipse and the potential hazard of retina damage associated with viewing the phenomenon without using the proper eyewear or handheld solar viewer.
Joshua Butrick assisted in coordinating the first full day interactive lecture program with the American Academy of Ophthalmology Ethics Committee in February. The committee, through the Jerome W. Bettman, Sr, MD Ethics Education Lecture Program, has provided half-day lectures in the past, but this was the first full-day event. (Photo credits: Mara Pearse Burke Director, AAO Ethics Program)
The department co-hosted the AΩA Visiting Lecturer and Banquet Series in April. The speaker was Dr. Andrew Lee, Neuro-ophthalmologist and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, at Houston Methodist Hospital. (Photo, top, left to right: Dr. Jayne S. Weiss, Dr. Fred Lopez, Sarah Forsythe (L4). Seated, left to right: Alise Aucoin (L4), and Dr. Andrew Lee)
Dr. Kevin Kirchner, Associate Professor, OLOL Eye Center Site Director and Medical Student Director, recently presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) conference in Seattle, Washington. His presentation was titled Eye Trauma in the City of New Orleans During Mardi Gras: A Multi-Year Cross-Sectional Analysis. (MD-PGY3 Camille P. Hicks, Harshvardhan Chawla, M4 Alise J. Aucoin, Hallie E. Byrd, Alejandro Leon, Rachel T. Fuerst, Kevin R. Kirchner)
Otolaryngology
April was Head and Neck Cancer Awareness month.
Drs. Sagar Kansara, Rula Mualla and Michael DiLeo performed the first procedure using a Single Port Robot at Our Lady of the Lake RMC, which was covered in the Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge.
Drs. Christine Matthews, Christine Settoon and Laura Hetzler were interviewed for an article in ENT Today titled “Is Delaying Childbearing During the First Few Years of a Career Worth It?” They discuss the work-life balance of being a full-time Otolaryngologist and mother.
Dr. Rohan Walvekar chaired the Head and Neck Cancer Section at this year's Cancer
Advisory Group of Louisiana meeting in New Orleans. Dr. Vilija Vaitaitis was one of
the panelists on surgical treatment of head and neck cancer.
Dr. Michael Dunham served as the keynote speaker at the Our Lady of the Lake RMC 2024 Quality and Research Day in May. Dr. Dunham presented Artificial Intelligence in Health Care.
Dr. Sagar Kansara joined the radio talk show “Mornings with Brian Haldane: Medical Mondays” to discuss the danger signs of head and neck cancer as well as methods of active prevention. The interview can be listened to here.
Dr. Kurt Mueller gave an oral presentation at the American Neurotology Society section of the Combined Otolaryngology Sections Meeting titled Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence in Chronic Ear Disease: Is It Clinically Relevant? in May.
Pathology
Many faculty and residents attended and presented at the recent USCAP Conference in
Baltimore. (photo, Dr. Haibo Wang. Dr. Ritu Bhalla, and Dr. Julia Rivera at USCAP Conference)
The conference accepted the abstract Should Patients with Incomplete Intestinal Metaplasia in Gastric Biopsies Undergo
More Rigorous Follow Up and Surveillance Endoscopy Compared to Those with Complete
Gastric 
Intestinal Metaplasia” by Haibo Wang (image, below left), Asra Feroze, Liu Y, Somma J, and Fu Z.
The conference also accepted the abstract Prediction of Final Gleason Score in Radical Prostatectomy Utilizing Global Gleason
Score, Highest Gleason Score and Largest Volume Gleason Score Parameters in Needle
Core Biopsies by Asra Feroze, Julia Rivera, Liu Y, Haibo Wang, and Ritu Bhalla. This abstract was
presented in the Stowell-Orbison award category of posters and selected as the first
six best posters by the Association of Indian Pathologists in North America (AIPNA).
Pediatrics
Department residents, fellows, and faculty presented 13 posters and 14 oral presentations at the Southern Regional Meeting earlier this year at the Hotel Intercontinental. Dr. Mary Johnson was approved as a new member of the Southern Society for Pediatric Research. Dr. Julie Gallois served as Institutional Representative, abstract reviewer, session organizer and moderator for Neonatology session. Dr. Luke Wall completed his second two-year term as Council Member, and served as trainee travel award judge, poster session mentor, abstract reviewer and session moderator for Allergy and Immunology session. All abstracts were published in The American Journal of Medical Sciences and may be viewed by accessing the February 2024 Journal linked here.
The department was also well represented at the Annual Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics meeting in New Orleans earlier this year. Drs. Jessica Patrick-Esteve, Amy Prudhomme, Robin English and Amy Creel served on the host committee for this international meeting of pediatric medical educators. The department sponsored a session for local learners which was attended by 12 medical students and several residents and fellows. Additional COMSEP attendees included Leslie Reilly, Shannon Palombo, Callie Roth, Sheri Russell, Kayla Griese, Karleigh Barkemeyer, Paige Prevot, and Amanda Barkemeyer. LSUHSC-NO faculty led five educational workshops and presented three research and scholarship posters.
The pediatric endocrinology group, in partnership with the Human Growth Foundation,
hosted the Pediatric Saturday Symposium Series: A Focus on Pediatric Endocrinology at Children's Hospital earlier this year. The educational program was specifically
directed towards pediatricians, but was open to all other interested physicians, nurse
practitioners, residents, medical students, nurses, 
and allied health professionals caring for patients with endocrine issues. The organizers
intend for this to be an annual event.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine recently highlighted both Dr. Shubo Sarkar and Dr. Tracy Omoegbele.
Dr. Amanda Dumas recently coordinated two free events aimed at equipping attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to promote a healthier environment for children. Both events were co-sponsored by the New Orleans Health Department in partnership with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and supported by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Healthy Homes Workshop was offered in both Spanish and English and delved into the crucial connection between housing and health, guiding participants through holistic approaches to address threats to the health and well-being of residents, especially children. Participants learned about the eight “Keep It” principles of a healthy home. The Children’s Environmental Health Symposium explored the environmental impacts on children's health, targeting professionals across the healthcare and educational spectrum.
Dr. Regina Zambrano recently presented a poster at the American College of Medical Genetics annual meeting in Toronto, Canada along with CHNOLA and Tulane Genetic Counselors Kennedi Jones and Maryam Ijaz.
The American Society of Pediatric Nephrology's newsletter recently featured Nephrology Division Head Dr. Diego Aviles as an "ASPN Member of the Month."
The division of hematology/oncology had a strong showing at the American Society of
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) National Conference in Seattle recently. Dr.
Pinki Prasad, Dr. Dana LeBlanc and Dr. Zachary LeBlanc each presented posters and
were noted as volunteers for ASPHO. Dr. Prasad is the outgoing Chair of the Professional
Development Committee, Dr. Dana LeBlanc is the Chair of the Hemoglobinopathy Special
Interest Group, and Dr. Zach LeBlanc was elected to the Training Committee.
Maria Velez will serve as the incoming President-elect of the American Society of
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
Dr. Moulton and Dr. Desselle treated administrative staff to lunch from Milk Bar in
honor of Administrative Professionals Day earlier this year.
Physiology
Scott Edwards and Amanda Pahng presented their research at the 2024 Winter Conference on Brain Research (WCBR) in the Sex Differences in Pain and Negative Affect and Implications for Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorder Risk symposium earlier in January.
Amanda Pahng presented a talk titled Sex differences in fentanyl reinforcement and activation of VTA neurons following fentanyl challenge in rats at the WCBR earlier this year.
Taylor Fitzpatrick-Schmidt and Scott Edwards dissected brains and spoke about responsible alcohol use and MD/PhD careers at the WCBR outreach event at Summit High School in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Stephanie Lee and Scott Edwards presented the poster Proteomics Analysis of Central Amygdala Systems Regulated by Mifepristone in the Context of Alcohol Dependence at the 48th Louisiana Neurosurgical Society Annual Meeting held in March. Authors: Lee S, Romero LM, Klein JM, Edwards KN, Guidry JJ, Worthylake DK, Edwards S.
Robert Siggins was interviewed on FOX 8 with Liz Reyes recently about how lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain.
Eden Gallegos and Alison Smith recently presented their poster Perceptions about Organ Donation and Updated Brain Death Criteria: A Survey of Opinions from Critical Care Providers at the ASTS Winter Symposium in Miami, Florida. Authors: Gallegos EM, Chaudhary S, Greiffenstein P, Schoen J, Marr A, Stuke L, Hunt J, Shammassian B, Smith A.
Psychiatry
Dr. Erika Rajo (Psychology) and Seeds of NOLA were featured in the Healthcare Journal of New Orleans in March 2024.
A multidisciplinary group representing several departments including Drs. Michelle Moore (Psychology), Sonya Van Nuland and Lee Engel presented the workshop Succession Planning: From Rough Water to Smooth Sailing at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) joint meeting of CFAS, GRA and ORR in Arlington, VA.
Radiology
Alexandra Fairchild, MD, was selected to attend several events on behalf of the Society
of Interventional Radiology (SIR) and the Radiology Business Management Association
(RBMA). Dr. Fairchild, along with nine other physicians nationwide with an interest
in IR advocacy, were flown to Washington D.C., to meet with VIP speakers and members
of Congress. She later attended a meeting in San Diego, CA related to her position
on the SIR Economics Committee. She was also selected to speak at the Radiology Business
Management Association meeting in Las Vegas, NV in April.
Surgery
The annual Cohn-Rives Society meeting was held in March.
