Your Neck of the Woods
Campus-wide:
LSU Health Campus Assistance Program (CAP) invited staff to show off their creativity
and holiday cheer through a gingerbread house contest. Students, staff and faculty
voted for their favorite house. The Human Resources Team won the coveted trophy. Images:
left - the contenders; center - the trophy; right - the HR Team holds up their winning
gingerbread house.
School-wide:
Several School of Medicine female doctors were featured in a recent issue of New Orleans Magazine, highlighting the world-class
care they provide while pioneering treatments that will impact the health of the community
for generations to come.
Cardiovascular Center of Excellence
Dr. Eric Lazartigues was selected to present the 2026 Carl Ludwig’s Distinguished Lecture of the Neural Control and Autonomic regulation section at the American Physiology
Summit.
Dr. Yue received a new project grant, Myeloid Self Expression Regulates Bone Marrow Hematopoiesis, from the Research Enhancement Program Review Committee.
Drs. Yang, Huijing, and Ankit participated in the AHA meeting in November.
Cell Biology and Anatomy
Dr. Sonya Van Nuland was the senior author of A global overview of anatomical science education and its present and future role
in biomedical curricula, which was featured on the cover on the January 2026 journal Anatomical Sciences Education.
LSU-LCMC Cancer Center
Dr. Lang Wu’s recent publication, Proteome-wide association study of prostate cancer risk across populations, originally published in Nature Communications, was highlighted in the January issue
of The Cancer Letter.
Medicine
Dr. Erwin Aguilar was a guest speaker at the International Congress of Ethics at the University of
Santiago in Santiago, Chile. His presentation was titled “Clinical Research Ethics.”
Dr. Tiffany Ardoin (Baton Rouge) recently presented CV Grand Rounds with Dr. Philip Schauer (Pennington Biomedical) on Weight Management in Heart Failure: Balancing Risk, Benefit and Metabolic Health.
Dr. Allison Augustus-Wallace recently attended the AAMC annual conference where she presented the poster, "The History and Impact of the AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science" as a nationally elected member of the Steering Committee-AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS). This video, honoring the women who came before, was played at the event.
Dr. Vanessa de la Cruz (Community and Population Medicine) and Dr. Virginia Saussy (Emergency Medicine) hosted a filled-to-capacity Louisiana Bridge Symposium at the ULL LITE Center in Lafayette. The symposium provided education and capacity building for hundreds of clinicians and administrators from around Louisiana about processes and structures to improve access and quality of care, including buprenorphine and naloxone for Opioid Use Disorder, through timely, evidence-based care models in the emergency department, inpatient, and outpatient settings. They were joined later at the Bridge Symposium by Dr. Bridgette Egan (Emergency Medicine) who was highlighted as an early Bridge Champion nationally who advocated for evidence-based initiation of buprenorphine and in-hand distribution of naloxone from the emergency department.
Dr. Shelby MacRae (Pulmonary/Critical Care) was invited to serve as a Faculty Leader in the Bronchiectasis
and NTM Workshop, Bridging our Knowledge for the Future: How to Provide the Best in Multi-Disciplinary
Care, and as an invited moderator for a poster session at the CHEST Annual Meeting in
Chicago. She also presented her research project, NonCystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis
in United States Primary Care Patients: Prevalence and Incidence from 2013–2024, in
the poster forum. In addition, her poster title "Bridging the Gap: Addressing Disparities
in Bronchiectasis and NTM Care Across Public Health Systems in the United States"
was awarded runner-up at the symposium.
Dr. MacRae was also featured on a podcast produced by the Bronchiectasis & NTM Association focused on helping patients navigate their first bronchiectasis and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) center appointment. In the episode, she discusses what patients can expect, how to prepare for an initial visit, and key questions to ask when establishing specialty care. The episode can be accessed here.
Dr. Rajesh Mohandas (Nephrology) was a panelist on a discussion titled 'Everything You’ve Wanted To Ask
a Nephrologist About Managing Hypertension but Were Too Afraid To!’ at the American
Heart Association Scientific Sessions held in New Orleans.
Dr. Efrain Reisin (Nephrology) was an invited speaker at the 11th International Conference on Prehypertension, Hypertension and Cardio Metabolic Syndrome held in Split, Croatia. The talk's title was "Obesity and Hypertension: The Heart and the Kidney, a Fifty Year Meteoric Retrospective."
Dr. R. Brooks Robey (Nephrology) presented “Diuretic Boot Camp: A Systematic Pharmacologic Approach to Optimizing Diuresis in Heart Failure and Kidney Disease,” in Primary Care VA-ECHO. The session was attended by 184 learners from VA sites across the nation.
Dr. Ben Springgate (Professor and Chief, Section of Community and Population, Department of Medicine; and Director, Center for Healthcare Value and Effectiveness) and Professor Larry Palinkas of University of California, San Diego gave a seminar in January at the University of Washington REACH Center on “Climate, Health, and Implementation Science - The PROUD-LA Study.” The seminar was attended by an audience of more than 80 climate, health, and implementation science researchers from across the United States.
Dr. Springgate and Dr. de la Cruz (Community and Population Medicine) presented talks for a panel on climate and mental health at the American Geophysical Union, a nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists. The conference attracted 20,000 attendees to New Orleans. The panel, Climate Extremes and Population Mental Health in the Deep South: Lessons from Katrina and Paths to Resilience, highlighted science and progress towards population resilience to the impacts of disasters over the last 20 years of climate extremes in our region of the country, and included colleagues from the University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Public Health; the American Psychological Association; and University of South Dakota's Disaster Mental Health Institute.
Dr. Springgate is also serving on the National Steering Committee of the Medicaid Prescription Cap Policies, Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), & Related Outcomes study, an NIH-funded mixed methods study based at Brown University assessing the impacts of different state Medicaid pharmacy benefit limits on access to lifesaving MOUD.
Dr. Seth Vignes (Hospital Medicine) recently became board certified in Addiction Medicine.
Many rheumatology faculty, along with fellows and residents, attended the American College of Rheumatology Annual Conference - Convergence 2025, where they successfully presented their work through posters and a case presentation (see Graduate Students, Postdocs, Residents and Fellows for more posters):
- Jennifer Elise Abdalla (Rheumatology), Dr. Yuichiro Okushi, Dr. Zoran Popovic, Dr. Heba Wassif and Dr. Soumya Chatterjee. Global Longitudinal, Circumferential, and Radial Strain in Systemic Sclerosis Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction. Case Presentation Thieves Market: Dr. Jennifer Elise Abdalla (Rheumatology)
The department had a robust presence at ID Week:
- Tat Yau (Infectious Diseases) co-moderated a session "Diversifying Revenue Streams for ID Providers."
- Lauren Richey, Dr. Meredith Clement (Infectious Diseases) along with Dr. Catherine Fontenot (IM Resident) and Dr. Victoria McCray (IM Chief Resident) presented posters:
- Change in Utilization of Statin Therapy Among People with HIV with the Recent Guideline Changes at a Ryan White Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana - Dr. Tat Yau, Dr. Lauren Richey
Low-Barrier Open Access HIV Care Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana - Dr. Tat Yau, Dr.
Lauren Richey
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- Doxycycline Postexposure Prophylaxis Utilization at Ryan White Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana - Dr. Tat Yau, Dr. Catherine Fontenot, Dr. Victoria McCray, and Dr. Meredith Clement
- Juzar Ali (Pulmonary/Critical Care) presented a poster “A Practice-Based and Expert-Driven Consensus on the Management of Respiratory and Non-Respiratory Adverse Events Associated with Amikacin Liposome Inhalation Suspension (ALIS).”
The National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Program (NATAP) website highlighted Dr. Yau’s and Dr. Richey’s research poster, “Change in Utilization of Statin Therapy Among People with HIV with Recent Guideline Changes at a Ryan White Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana,” that they presented at ID Week.
LSU Nephrology was well represented at the American Society of Nephrology meeting
held in Houston, with four posters and one oral presentation:
Between the rock and the hard place! - Dr. Nahida Baigam, Dr. Sidhartha Bajracharya, Dr. Rajesh Mohandas- Oral Antibiotic Therapy and Hospitalization in Peritoneal Dialysis-Associated Peritonitis - Lazar R, Zywno M, Shapiro M, Weinhandl E, Dr. Mihran Naljayan
- Positive Clinical Outcomes for In-Center Nocturnal Patients Observed in Certain Subgroups - Ryan, Claire; Sibbel, Scott; Shapiro, Mark H.; Cassin, Michelle; Dr. Naljayan; Weinhandl, Eric D.; Brunelli, Steven M.
What’s the calm before the storm! - Dr. Baigam, Dr. Tammy N. Do, Dr. Farshid Yazdi- Associations of Comorbid Conditions with Outcomes in Patients Initiating Home Dialysis - Weinhandl; Shapiro; del Rosario, Maria B.; Cassin; Dr. Naljayan.
Neuroscience Center of Excellence
Dr. Nicolas Bazan was interviewed on Fox 8 about his new book, Brain Aging and Resilience.
Ophthalmology
Department Chair Dr. Jayne S. Weiss was an invited lecturer at the American Ophthalmology Society lectureship at Vanderbilt
University Department of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Weiss was also an invited lecturer and panelist at American Academy of Ophthalmology and was named the SICSSO Medalist Lecture for their annual meeting in June 2026.
Dr. Weiss is also a co-author on the published Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews - Topical Lifitegrast therapy for dry eye disease.
Orthopaedic Surgery
Michael J. Leddy, III, MD, FAAOS was recently appointed to Chair of the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Councilors. He is the first Louisiana surgeon to hold this
position, and previously served as the BOC representative for Louisiana before being
elected to serve as secretary, then chair-elect, and now chair.
Pediatrics
The department raised $5,000 for their annual Thanksgiving Drive. Contributions supported
families in the community by providing holiday meals, essential groceries, and a little
extra comfort during a season that can be challenging for many.
Volunteers Kelly Allerton, Sheri Russell, Kirk Thame, Elizabeth McDonough, Ashley
Pate, Devante Williams, Brooke Naranjo and son Joaquin Naranjo, Bonnie Desselle, Dedrick
Moulton, as well as volunteers from Blessed to be a Blessing and Cargill assisted
with box distribution.
The Metairie clinic received toy donations from Cargill and Blessed to Be a Blessing. Their support helped bring smiles and holiday cheer to patients and families.
The gastroenterology section attended the 2025 NASPGHAN Conference in Chicago, where
leaders in pediatric gastroenterology gathered to share the latest research and innovations.
The Division of Allergy & Immunology recently attended the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, where residents, fellows, and faculty presented research and represented the division on a national stage (more about residents and fellows here):
- Fellows each presented posters on challenging clinical cases with faculty mentorship from Drs. Elizabeth Wisner, Michelle Korah-Sedgwick, Andrew Abreo, Colleen LeBlanc (GI), and Zachary LeBlanc (Heme/Onc).
- Kenneth Paris moderated a workshop on subcutaneous administration of immunoglobulin.
Physiology
Dr. Scott Edwards presented a talk titled “Alcohol and Colorectal Cancer Risk” at the Louisiana Colorectal
Cancer Roundtable.
Dr. Nicholas Gilpin represented the LSUHSC Alcohol & Drug Research Group at the LSU Cross campus research retreat.
Dr. Gilpin also chaired the CSR Study Section; ZRG1 ICN-L (94) S (Special Emphasis Panel). He was an Ad hoc member of CSR Study Section, Mol. & Cell. Neuropharmacology (MCNP).
Dr. Gilpin led the discussion for the session "Pain Mechanisms in the Amygdala” at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) for Amygdala Function in Emotion, Cognition and Disease in Barcelona, Spain.
Dr. Gilpin organized and chaired the session "Pharmacology and Neural Mechanisms of Comorbid Pain and Drug Use” at the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society (EBPS) in Almeria, Spain, where he also gave a talk titled "Vaporized cannabinoid inhalation effects on chronic inflammatory pain outcomes” at the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society (EBPS) in Almeria, Spain.
Dr. Gilpin participated in a roundtable titled "Considering polysubstance use in the development of therapeutics for use disorders” for the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) meeting in New Orleans.
Dr. Lisa Harrison-Bernard presented a virtual invited seminar “Filtering Knowledge: Two Decades of Advancing Renal Physiology Education" at the Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Rio Grande Valley.
Dr. Rajani Maiya presented an invited seminar "Molecular and Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Social Stress Escalated Alcohol Consumption" at the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at the University of Texas at Austin, her alma mater.
Dr. Patrick McTernan presented the talk “Inflammation, and Alcohol: Aging the Immune Response” in the 2025 Department of Physiology Fall Seminar Series. Dr. McTernan also presented a talk “Understanding Immunoassays” as part of the Perspective in Alcohol Research seminar series.
Dr. Liz Simon was an Ad hoc member of CSR Study Section NIH Fellowship and AIDS-related Special Emphasis Panel. She was also member of the NIH/NIDA Special Emphasis Panel for the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)- Targeting Inflammasomes in HIV and Substance Use.
Dr. Simon chairs the American Physiological Society- Endocrinology and Metabolism Section Awards. She was a reviewer for the 2025 Research Society of Alcohol Small Grant Award Program.
Dr. Simon also gave the talk “Breaking the Balance: Alcohol, Diet, and Mitochondrial Metabolism in HIV/SIV” at the 20th Conference of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcohol in Brussels. She also gave a talk “Mini-Livers, Major Insights: developing a 3D hepatic spheroid model for studying alcohol and metabolic stress” at the 20th Retreat Program of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center at LSUHSC-NO.