School of Medicine

• Allison C. Augustus-Wallace, PhD, MS, MNS was invited to serve as a Guest Faculty Member by the National Institutes of Health for the 2020 NIH Cement Extramural Leadership Institute (CELI). CELI is a 10-week program for high performing NIH extramural staff in leadership roles. Dr. Augustus-Wallace presented a virtual talk regarding strategies used to increase faculty and students from historically excluded, underrepresented backgrounds in biomedical careers.  

• Dr. Augustus-Wallace was selected to serve on a discussion panel for the NIH, NINDS to inform strategic planning for training and diversity. The discussion panel, held virtually, was designed to gather input from faculty who are intimately involved in training and mentorship and are concerned with developing the future of a talented and diverse neuroscience workforce. 

• Dr. Augustus-Wallace was also invited to serve as a panelist for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Virtual Meeting’s, ASBMB Educational & Professional Development, Career Symposium: Research/Academic Administration.  

• Dr. Augustus-Wallace is an active member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), which benefits her committee leadership roles for the Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies/GAC. 

• Dr. Augustus-Wallace also recently earned Diversity and Inclusion Certification from Cornell University.   

• Dr. William Bivin, Assistant Professor, was recognized by the ASCP 40 Under Forty Program. 

• Residency Program Director Dr. Chelsey Sandlin spoke at the annual Association of Pediatric Program Directors Fall Meeting. She collaborated with several other APPD program directors to give a talk geared to new program leadership. Their presentation was titled "Program Maintenance: A Year on the USS Pediatrics." Dr. Sandlin also presented at LSU GME's quarterly Council on Resident Education meeting last week. DIO Dr. Charles Hilton asked her to present recent changes made to the residency program's website as virtual recruitment season nears. 

• Dr. Bonnie Desselle was appointed to both LCMC and Children’s Hospital’s Steering Committees on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Dr. Dedrick Moulton was also appointed to the same Children’s Hospital Steering Committee. 

• Dr. Amanda Dumas was recently selected to serve on the Academic Pediatric Association's Anti-Racism & Diversity Task Force. The Task Force is charged with identifying strategies to combat systemic racism, implicit bias and discrimination against those underrepresented in medicine in academic pediatrics.  

• The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has officially accredited Program Director Dr. Amanda Messer’s Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Program. The LSU PHM Fellowship Program is the first and only one in the state of Louisiana. Congratulations are extended to Dr. Messer, Coordinator Hanh Rimmer, and the whole Hospitalist Division. 

• Dr. Alexis Morvant has been selected by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine as a representative to serve on the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care’s Pediatric Palliative Care Task Force (PPC-TF). As part of the Task Force, she will identify field priorities, set field strategy, and coordinate with other organizations to route financial, human and other resources to ensure completion of key PPC activities. Dr. Morvant will serve a two-year term. Read more about the Task Force here. 

• Dr. Shubbo Sarkar from the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine was recently selected to lead an American Academy of Pediatrics Quality Improvement Initiative. He was invited to join the American Academy of Pediatrics Value in Inpatient Pediatrics Network, Better Antibiotic Selections in Children (BASiC) National Collaborative. The project launched this fall, and in conjunction with 130 other Children’s Hospitals across the country, the Children's Hospital team will be providing and analyzing data on antimicrobial use for the conditions of pneumonia, UTIs and skin and soft tissue infections in order to develop best practices for antibiotic use. Other members of the multidisciplinary team include: Dr. Jay Hescock (Pediatrics), Dr. Callie Roth (LSU Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow), and Dr. Katie Procarione. 

• The Department of Pediatrics had notable achievements at the PICS-AICS (Pediatric & Adult Interventional Cardiology Symposium) 2020, an international conference held in September that was attended by over 1,000 registered delegates. For the first time in the hospital's history, Drs. Kiran Mallula, Ernest Siwik and their team were invited to host a taped case session involving a procedure of RVOT stenting in a small infant < 2.5 kg with unique complex anatomy. The event can be viewed here. Drs. Mallula, Siwik and Sanchitha Guruchandrasekar had two posters accepted to this meeting from the Heart Center. 

• Dr. Lolie Yu recently announced that the Children Oncology Group NCI Community Oncology Research Program (COG NCORP) certificate of excellence was awarded to the LSUHSC/CHNOLA Pediatric Heme-Onc/HSCT program for assisting with the development and conduct of studies in cancer prevention and control, disparities and cancer care delivery research (CCDR). The program had been one of the highest accrual sites repeatedly among 47 other sites over the last few years and the site also provided leadership roles in CCDR and the Diversity & Disparities committees.