Awards and Honors
Congratulations to the following faculty and staff for achieving special distinction this quarter:
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Experimental Therapeutics
Dr. Suresh Alahari was awarded the Faculty Assembly’s 2026 Outstanding Service to an Institution Award.
Read the full article.
Cell Biology and Anatomy
Gregory Casey, PhD, received the Allen A. Copping Excellence in Teaching Award. This award was
established in 1997 and named in honor of Dr. Allen A. Copping, who served as LSU
Medical Center Chancellor and then-President of LSU. Dr. Copping established this
award to recognize faculty who are excellent teachers, have demonstrated a lifelong
quest for discovery, and inspire their students. Students nominate the recipient of
the award and committees of faculty and students of each school select the recipients.
Medicine
Dr. Marcus Bachhuber (Community and Population Medicine and LSU Health Center for Healthcare Value and
Effectiveness) has been awarded a Fulbright award to conduct research at three universities
internationally (Vancouver, Melbourne, and Helsinki) in 2026-2027 on emerging issues
in addiction, namely opioid use disorder and gambling disorder. For opioid use disorder,
he will study innovative treatment models and methods to integrate research into clinical
settings. For gambling disorder, he will focus on effective policy to prevent gambling-related
harms as well as data systems for early identification of gambling-related harms at
the population level.
Dr. Taniya De Silva (Endocrinology) was chosen by senior medical students to deliver the Conferee of the Oath of Hippocrates at the pre-commencement ceremony.
Dr. Matthew Foy (Baton Rouge) was awarded Best Clinical Teacher by senior medical students.
Dr. Foy, along with Cacky Hebert, MD (Comprehensive Medicine); Dean Lauret, MD (Baton Rouge); Cathy Lazarus, MD (Comprehensive Medicine); Ross McCarron, MD (Hospital Medicine); and Fred Lopez, MD (Infectious Diseases) were selected as hooders.
Other awards announced in conjunction with graduation include:
- New Orleans
- Dexter Matrana (Comprehensive Medicine) - Clinic Faculty of the Year
- Kyle Hoppens (Hospital Medicine) - Hospitalist Faculty of the Year
- Amita Krishnan (Pulmonary/Critical Care) - Sub-Specialty Faculty of the Year
- Lafayette
- Shaun Walker (Internal Medicine) - OUHC LSUHSC Faculty Teaching Award
- Kyle Degeyter (Interventional Radiology) - Distinguished Teaching Contribution Award
Dr. Shelby MacRae (Pulmonary/Critical Care) was recently awarded the 2025 – 2026 Faculty Assembly Outstanding
Junior Faculty Member Award. Read the full article.
Dr. MacRae also was chosen to deliver the Clinical Year in Review for adult bronchiectasis at the 2026 American Thoracic Society (ATS) meeting. The ATS is the largest pulmonary medicine organization in the world, and the lecture series in which she participated is one of the highest profile activities of this international gathering.
The Humanities in Medicine senior elective, directed by Dr. Lazarus and Dr. Jay Mussell, was voted the best 4th year course by the senior students.
Dr. Seth Vignes (Hospital Medicine and Program in Addiction Medicine) was selected for the fourth cohort of the highly competitive Medical Justice in Advocacy Fellowship, sponsored by the American Medical Association and the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Ophthalmology
Education Coordinator Josh Butrick was awarded a scholarship to complete training and achieve a Certification in Remediation
in Graduate Medical Education.
Kyle Crawford, MD and Tanvi Chokshi, MD received an ACGME Back to Bedside grant to support trainee-led projects "impacting patient engagement and the learning environment in powerful, meaningful ways."
Orthopaedic Surgery
Dr. James Laborde received the Louisiana Orthopedic Association 2025 Newman Community Service award
for service to and education of care of diabetic foot patients.
Otolaryngology
Retrospective Chart Review of Eustachian Tube Balloon Dilation Outcomes in an Obese
Patient Population, a project by Stephen Hernandez, MD; Caroline Bonaventure, MD; Carley Boyce, MD; Catherine Bonaventure, BS; and Kate Horton, BS, won the Best Original Research Award at the FMOL Health – Our Lady of the Lake
and LSU School of Medicine Baton Rouge Regional Campus Quality + Research Day.
Dr. Jill D’Souza was selected by her peers for New Orleans Magazine’s 2026 Top Doctors list.
Colleen Cecola, MD; Christine Settoon, MD; Lauren Buck, MD; Michael Dunham, MD; and Adele Evans, MD’s article “AI-Assisted Video Monitoring for Tracheostomy-Dependent Infants: A Proof-Of-Concept Study” received the Peter Koltai Award for Advancement of Pediatric Airway Disease.
Celeste Gary, MD received the Alumnus of the Year award during Resident Research Day.
Stephen C. Hernandez, MD was named Eminent Scholar and Chairholder of The Daniel W. Nuss, MD Endowed Chair in Skull Base Surgery.
Rula Mualla, MD was named Teacher of the Year during Resident Research Day.
Pathology
The 2026 Best Support Staff Award was presented to Chedaphne Audrict, the Lead Cytotechnologist at UMC-NO. This award was established in 2010 by pathology
residents to honor one supporting staff member who shows an extraordinary commitment
to the program and to the teaching and support of the residency program. (Image: Residents Angelle Jolly, MD, left, and Ayesha Younus, MD, right present Chedaphne
Audrict with the 2026 Best Support Staff Award.)
Jonathan Somma, MD, Professor of Clinical Pathology at LSUHSC-NO and a Cytopathologist at UMC-NO,
received the 2026 Education and Commitment Award. Dr. Somma was chosen by pathology
residents for his exemplary commitment, teaching, and support for the residents. The
award, established in 2010, is presented by the chief resident(s) at the end of the
year. (Image: Residents Angelle Jolly, MD, left, and Ayesha Younus, MD, right present Jonathan
Somma, MD, with the 2026 Education and Commitment Award.)
Pediatrics
Julie Gallois, MD received the Suskind Outstanding Pediatric Faculty Award, presented annually to the faculty member
who made an outstanding academic contribution to the education, research, clinical
service and advocacy missions of the department.
Nihal Godiwala, MD was awarded the Nicholas Gagliano, MD Outstanding Faculty Award, given annually by the LSU Pediatrics Residents for excellence in teaching, and for sharing, through knowledge and example, the facts and feelings that prepare them for a lifetime of service to children.
Physiology
Dr. Scott Edwards was awarded the Faculty Assembly’s 2026 Outstanding Service to the Community Award.
Read the full article.
Surgery
Charles W. Chappuis, MD, (Lafayette Regional Campus) received the Allen A. Copping Excellence in Teaching
Award. This award was established in 1997 and named in honor of Dr. Allen A. Copping,
who served as LSU Medical Center Chancellor and then-President of LSU. Dr. Copping
established this award to recognize faculty who are excellent teachers, have demonstrated
a life-long quest for discovery, and inspire their students. Students nominate the
recipient of the award and committees of faculty and students of each school select
the recipients.
Fabienne Gray, MD, FACS and her pediatric general surgery team won two awards at Manning Family Children's Research Day: 2026 We Dat Award and The Dr. Renee Gardner Excellence in Health Equity Research Award.
Dr. London Guidry was honored with the Robert C. Batson, MD Outstanding Faculty Award (as voted by all residents).
Dr. Omer Kaymakcalan was awarded the Charles L. Dupin, MD Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Faculty Teacher of the Year.
Dr. John Morrison, Jr. received the W. Chapman Lee Award for Best Faculty Teacher (as voted by the medical students).