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Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Practitioner Series
What can you achieve with a dual MD/MPH degree? How can you utilize both your medicine and public health degree in your career? Many students look to their peers and to the career paths of most physicians they know. They see themselves going down a conveyor belt involving medical school, residency, fellowship, practice, and wonder how do they get from where they are now to a meaningful career working on issues to improve health of populations.
During our Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Practitioner series, we invite speakers who have forged unique and rewarding careers as physicians tackling public health challenges. Our speakers convey there is no single path to success in creating an impactful career. Doors often open with pursuit of one’s interests and application of one’s talents. During this series, our speakers describe the road they took from medical school to where they are now - the choices, the challenges, the opportunities, the successes - and answer questions from students looking to further their own health careers.
If you are interested in attending Voices in Leadership seminars in the future, sign up for our mailing list for future events here.
Voices in Leadership | MD/MPH Practitioner Series
Dr. Vanessa de la Cruz
Statewide Medical Director of the LDH Office of Behavioral Health
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Dr. Vanessa de la Cruz is board certified in Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr. de la Cruz serves underserved communities, particularly those facing serious mental illness and substance use disorders and is passionate about expanding access to behavioral healthcare in Louisiana. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. de la Cruz’s career has been devoted to public healthcare systems for 20 years serving in leadership roles at the county/parish, state, and federal level.
Voices in Leadership | MD/MPH Practitioner Seminar Series
Dr. Jennifer Avegno
Director New Orleans Health Department
Monday, October 27th
As Director of the New Orleans Health Department, she leads the City’s public health strategy, programming, and responses to multiple epidemics and emergencies. At NOHD, Dr. Avegno manages a dedicated team of public health professionals in addressing critical health needs for the community, with intentional core focus on social drivers of health, equity and access.
Medicine Grand Rounds
Dr. David Lawrence, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
"Methadone for Opioid Use Disorder for the Generalist: Everything you wanted to know
but were afraid to ask."
Department of Medicine Grand Rounds
Friday, October 10, 2025
Voices in Leadership | MD/MPH Practitioner Seminar Series
Dr. Emery Chang
UCLA Health
Friday, January 10, 2025
Dr. Chang joined the UCLA Center for AIDS Research & Education (CARE) as an HIV fellow in 2005 and joined the faculty in 2006. His concentration is on LGBTQ+ primary care, HIV primary, and preventative care in adults, adolescents, children, and families.
In addition to his clinical work, he has been involved in a number of UCLA training programs including the Combined Internal Medicine & Pediatrics Residency Program, the Med-Peds Transition Care Consult Service, the LGBTQ+ Primary Care Fellowship, and is the Co-Director of LGBTQ+ Education of the David Geffen School of Medicine. Further, he is the founding director of the LGBTQ+ Lecture Series, the founding co-chair of the UCLA Health PRIDE Network Affinity Group, and the LGBTQ+ Medical Director of the UCLA Health System. He has also been involved in a number of clinical trials in HIV, HIV/AIDS-related cancers, and COVID-19.
Voices in Leadership | MD/MPH Practitioner Series
Dr. Jacob Quinton
Medical Officer for Center of Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
April 17, 2023
Dr. Quinton is a primary care internist and health services researcher passionate about improving care for the ‘safety net’ and the equity of all care delivery systems. As Medical Office at the Innovation Center, he works on value-based payment models for specialty care and primary care specialty integration. During medical school he developed an STI screening and comprehensive reproductive health education program for his former students, and as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow created the first student-led ‘hotspotting’ or patient navigation programs for the most challenging patients (to be) in the New Orleans safety net.
You can review that session recording here.
Global Surgery Grand Rounds
Dr. Katie Howe
Thursday, Oct 6, 2023
Dr. Katie Howe graduated from the MD/MPH program in 2017 and matched in General Surgery at Virginia Tech Carilion. During her residency, Dr. Howe was able to complete some international surgery rotations. Now that her residency is complete, she is moving to Niger to work at a small mission hospital.
She was a trailblazer in her time here at LSUHSC and continues to blaze a path that fits her interests in public health and medicine. She was the founding president of the Inter-professional Student Alliance (IPSA) and a firm believer on the importance of having a variety of perspectives in healthcare. Dr. Howe is an incredible resource and great example on how you can utilize public health in your medical career.
Here is an video of her talking about her work and research during her residency.
Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Student Edition
March 23, 2022
Session recording here.
Since Public Health coursework is primarily in the 1st and 2nd year of Medicine, MD/MPH students frequently ask -“How can I carry my public health training and interests into my 3rd and 4th year of Medicine?”
Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Student Edition is a series to highlight the impacts and achievements of our LSU Health New Orleans MD/MPH students.
Fourth year students Polly Gwan (BCHS), Simi Mittal (HPSM) and Carter Pesson (EIPD) will talk with you about their work and interests during L3 and L4 yrs.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to hear directly from our students on how to utilize their MD and MPH degrees during medical school and beyond.
Voices in Leadership | MD/MPH Practitioner Series
Kenneth Wells, MD, MPH
UCLA Center of Health Services and Society, Director
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Kenneth B. Wells, MD, MPH
- Director of the Center for Health Services and Society of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
- Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
- Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Fielding School of Public Health.
- Staff Psychiatrist at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Health System
He received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and his M.P.H. from the UCLA School of Public Health, and is a graduate of the UCLA-Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. Dr. Wells’ areas of interest include mental health services in disadvantaged communities, community engagement in health services research and disparities in quality and outcomes of care.
Dr. Wells, a psychiatrist and health services researcher, has led a number of studies of how variations in health services systems and financing affect clinical care as well as on the use of Community-Partnered Participatory Research to address disparities in access to and outcomes of services for depression. Dr. Wells is mentor of Dr. Springgate and they continue to work on Community-Partnered Participatory Research together.
Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Practitioner Series
Dr. Leron Finger, Children's Hospital
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Dr. Leron Finger serves as Children’s Hospital Chief Quality Officer. Finger has overseen significant growth in the scope of the hospital’s safety and quality program over the last several years.
Finger joined Children’s Hospital in 2014 as assistant medical director, Patient Safety and Quality, and was promoted to associate medical director, Patient Safety and Quality in 2016. Before joining Children’s, he served as a pediatric intensivist and as medical director for the flight care team at Ochsner Clinic Foundation Hospital. He completed his residency and pediatric critical care fellowship at Rainbow Babies and at Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Finger is board-certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and serves as Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, LSU Health New Orleans.
Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Practitioner Series
Dr. Ryan Pasternak
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Dr. Pasternak is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics; Vice Chair, Pediatric Community Health and Advocacy ; Division Head, General (Ambulatory) Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine; Service Line Chief, Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital; Chief Medical Officer, Orleans Parish School Board; and Nick Gagliano, Endowed Professor in Ambulatory Pediatrics.
His clinical and research interests include Transgender Care, Gender Diverse Youth, Adolescent Reproductive Health, STI Prevention and Healthy Behaviors, Sports Medicine, Disordered Eating, Clinical Quality Improvement in Community Health Care, and School Based Health.
Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Student Edition
Wednesday, March 10th, 4pm CST
Recording available here
Nicole Dominque, MD/MPH 2021- Behavioral and Community Health Sciences
Nikka Khorsandi, MD/MPH 2021 - Health Policy and Systems Management
Paige Guillory, MD/MPH 2021 - Behavioral and Community Health Sciences
“How can I carry my public health training and interests into my 3rd and 4th year of Medicine?”
Voices in Leadership: MD/MPH Student Edition is a series to highlight the impacts
and achievements of our LSU Health New Orleans MD/MPH students.
As students move into the clinical realm in their third and fourth years, they see
the need and importance of clinicians trained in public health. Using both their Medicine
and Public Health training, our MD/MPH students are creating and implementing programs,
research and policy to directly impact the health of our community members.
Fourth year students Nicole Dominique (BCHS), Nikka Khorsandi (HPSM) and Paige Guillory
(BCHS) will talk with you about their work and interests during L3 and L4 yrs. They
will speak on their experiences with the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, the importance
of a public health perspective in clinical settings, health policy work, community
interventions and more.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to hear directly from our students on how
to utilize their MD and MPH degrees during medical school and beyond.
*Paige Guillory is unable to attend live due to her clinical rotation schedule. You can view her pre-recorded presentation here.
Dr. Eboni Price-Haywood
Director of the Center for Outcomes and Health Services Research, Ochsner Health Systems
August 19, 2020
As Director of the Center for Outcomes and Health Services Research at Ochsner Health
Systems, Dr. Price-Haywood is tasked with creating, testing and scaling next generation
solutions for health care delivery to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness
of healthcare. Dr. Price-Haywood has distinguished herself with achievements in health
service delivery re-design. Dr. Price-Haywood’s experiences have enhanced her ability
to engage primary care providers in translational research to reduce disparities.
She understands in-depth the type of research questions that matter most to PCPs and
the health systems in which they work. She is the principal investigator for the NIH
funded "Opioid Treatment and Recovery through a Safe Pain Management Program". She
is also co-investigator for several PCORI-funded projects including the Louisiana
Clinical Data Research Network, the Promoting Successful Weight Loss in Primary Care
in Louisiana Study and Impact of CMS Reimbursement Policy Supporting Care Coordination
in Louisiana Study. Fall of 2020, the Comptroller General of the United States, head
of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, has appointed Dr. Price-Haywood to serve
on Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors.
View Dr. Price-Haywood's talk here.
Special Session: Ethical Distribution of Health Resources during COVID-19
The School of Public Health and the School of Medicine present a panel on the ethical allocation of resources to all impacted during COVID-19. Dr. Richard Culbertson will moderate a discussion highlighting clinical experiences of front-line physicians, health laws, crisis standards of care of people with disabilities, and racial equity.
With our panel:
- Richard Culbertson, PhD – Program Director, Health Policy and Systems Management
- Bennett deBoisblanc, MD – Critical Care Physician
- Joanne Marier, JD – Program Director, Health Law and Medical Ethics
- Meredith Sugarman, MPH – Associate Director, Louisiana Community Health Worker Institute
- Cathy Lazarus, MD – President, Disability Rights Louisiana and Associate Dean, School of Medicine
- Precious Comeaux, MPH – Community Health Sciences PhD Candidate
- Ben Springgate, MD, MPH – Director of Center of Healthcare Value and Equity, Chief of Section of Community and Population Medicine
View April 27, 2020 seminar recording here.
Dr. Neil Nixdorff
Medical Director, City of New Orleans Healthcare for the Homeless Clinic
April 3, 2020
At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Orleans, Dr. Neil Nixdorff spoke with
us about the challenges and opportunities facing our vulnerable populations in the
time of COVID-19. Dr. Nixdorff graduated advanced degrees in Medicine, Public Health,
Bioethics and Applied Anatomy. After a false start in academic Internal Medicine,
he completed his residency training in Family Medicine, transplanted to Louisiana,
and settled into various clinical and non-clinical roles loosely intertwined by an interest in public
health. He is currently Medical Director and full-time primary care provider for the
City of New Orleans Healthcare for the Homeless Clinic. While there, he has worked
to establish in-house programs in medication-assisted therapy for Opioid Use Disorder
as well as treatment for Hepatitis C infection. He volunteers clinically and serves
on the Board of Directors for Luke’s House, a free clinic in Central City providing
health education, case management and very limited clinical services to a largely
Spanish-speaking community that hasn’t similarly benefited from the state’s Medicaid
expansion. He assists as needed with various Louisiana Department of Health public
health initiatives such as an outreach program to immunize homeless individuals against
Hepatitis A, which has resulted in over 1000 doses of HAV vaccine administered to-date,
as well as the current Bayou Segnette COVID-19 convalescent camp.
View Dr. Nixdorff's talk here.
Dr. John Heaton
President of Clinical and System Operations, LCMC Health
January 29, 2020
Prior to moving into his system-level leadership role, he was Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer for Children’s Hospital. He originally joined the medical staff at Children’s Hospital in 2000 as Director of Anesthesiology.
An alumnus of the LSU School of Medicine, Dr. Heaton is a diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology and holds a Master of Medical Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University. A longstanding clinical faculty member at both LSU and Tulane medical schools, Dr. Heaton is a passionate advocate for patient safety and the quality of our care delivery systems.
During Dr. Heaton's talk, our students were blown away by his staunch patient advocacy
and the incredible work he has done to transform the quality of care at Children’s
Hospital.
View Dr. Heaton's talk here.
Dr. Chinazo Cunningham
Professor and Associate Chief, Department of Medicine, Internal Medicine Director
of Research Resources
Director, Diversity Affairs for Department of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center, Eintstein College of Medicine
January 17, 2020
Dr. Cunningham has been providing care, developing programs, and conducting research focused on marginalized populations including people who use drugs with or at-risk for HIV infection. She has collaborated with community-based organizations to develop unique and innovative programs to deliver health care to these marginalized populations. Parallel with program development, her research has focused on improving access to care, utilization of health care services, and health outcomes. Dr. Cunningham presented her current work at LSU Health School of Medicine Grand Rounds - The Opioid and Overdose Epidemics: Where do we go from here? with a special MD/MPH focused Q&A session after.
Dr. Adi Nadimpalli
Doctors without Borders
January 15, 2020
As former Head of Mission in Nepal, and the former vice president of the US board of directors, he has worked extensively in field projects in South Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic, and West Africa during the Ebola crisis. He has been a leader in international health care in some of the most remote and most challenging environments on the planet (supporting population health in the face of war, famine, population displacement, and epidemics) through his efforts with Doctors Without Borders. Dr. Nadimpalli spoke with our students candidly about the challenges and opportunities working abroad and within NGOs.