Resident, Fellows and Postdocs News
The Gold Humanism Honor Society announced that Dr. Tim Legare was nominated and selected by his peers for Resident of the Semester Fall 2021. His
interactions with peers, patients, and the community are noteworthy, and he was commended
for being such great member of the LSUHSC community and for embodying the GHHS pillars
of respect, integrity, service, and empathy.
Family Medicine
The LSUHSC Lafayette Family Medicine Program at Ochsner UHC submitted seven posters for the virtual Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians Virtual Poster competition and won three of the four available awards.
- FIRST PLACE
- Timely Administration of Screening for Kids 0-5 years
- Author: Caitlin McDaniel, MD (below, Dr. McDaniel, PGY2 receiving award from Lee Ann Albert, LAFP)
- THIRD PLACE
- Tale of Delays: Treating Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis in an Under-resourced Environment
- Author: Marie Baker, MD (below, Dr. Baker PGY2 receiving award with Lee Ann Albert, LAFP)
- HONORABLE MENTION
- Don't Go Breaking My Sharps
- Author: Carrie Guidry, MD (below, Dr. Chris Johnson, PGY3 accepts the honorable mention award on behalf of team member, Dr. Guidry, PGY2 from Lee Ann Albert, LAFP)
Internal Medicine
UMC has named the following residents and fellows as Difference Makers: Dr. Syed Saad, Dr. Nabeel Saghir, Dr. Eduardo Venegas (Caridology); Dr. Michaela Banks, Dr. Kyle Herbert, Dr. Michael Okoronkwo (EM); Dr. Christopher Van Dreumel, Dr. Jake Fontenot, Dr. Arya Loghmani, Dr. Leandre Millett, Dr. Peter Pantlin (IM); Dr. Christine Bruins (Med-Peds); and Dr. Hai Tran (Pulmonary).
Dr. Amanda Ritchie (IM/EM resident) was recently spotlighted by LCMC Health.
Dr. Michael Okoronkwo (EM Resident) was first author of the recently published case report “Emergency Department Trauma Informed Care for a Black Male Gunshot Victim.”
Ophthalmology
Senior vitreoretinal fellow James David, MD had the following publications:
- David JA, Fivgas GD. Acute macular neuroretinopathy associated with COVID-19 infection. Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2021 Dec;24:101232. doi: 10.1016/j.ajoc.2021.101232. Epub 2021 Nov 10. PMID: 34778601; PMCID: PMC8577875.
- David JA, Vincent, JM. 2022. The Case of Deteriorating Vision and a Mysterious Yellow-Orange Lesion. EyeNet Magazine. January: 35-37.
These graduating residents matched for fellowships:
- Jawad Ahmad, MD at UCLA for Cornea fellowship
- Zak Davis, MD at Ochsner for Glaucoma fellowship
- Ben Lee, MD at USC for Glaucoma fellowship
- Kush Patel, MD at New Jersey Retina for Retina fellowship
PGY1 Resident Hayley Redrick, MD was recognized by the Chief Experience Officer at UMC for her outstanding and compassionate patient care.
The department matched with and will be gaining Thamolwan “Tammy” Surakiatchanukul, MD, a junior vitreoretinal fellow who will begin July 2022. Dr. Surakiatchanukul earned her medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and will be graduating the residency program at New York Medical College: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center before beginning her fellowship this year.
The department recently held its match day for Class of 2026:
- Ahmad Baiyasi, MD - Wayne State University School of Medicine
- Nathaniel Goldblatt, MD - Weill Cornell Medical College
- Joshua Katuri, MD - University of Texas-San Antonio
- Xujia “Jessica” Li, MD - St. Louis University School of Medicine
- Carson Panovec, MD - Univeristy of Tennessee Health Sciences Center College of Medicine-Memphis
- John “Brad” Scofield, MD - Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport
- Wayne “Trey" Wortmann, MD - Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans
Pathology
PGY4 resident Dr. Christopher Girardo (below) accepted a Clinical Informatics Fellowship with the LSU-Ochsner Shreveport program.
The department congratulations to their new 2022 Chief Residents: Dr. Jack Harbert and Dr. Fernanda da Silva Lameira (below)
Alumni Nicole Jackson, MD, MPH, FASCP was selected as ASCP's 40 under 40.
Pediatrics
LSU Pediatrics held their annual Pediatrics Research Day at Children's Hospital. Presentation winners included:
- Anne Tufton, MD (Neonatology): Best Original Research Presentation by a Fellow for Novel biomarkers for early and accurate detection of a fatal gut inflammatory disease in preemie babies
- Callie Roth, MD (Hospital Medicine): Best QI or Educational Research Presentation by a Fellow for Pediatric Multidisciplinary Care Huddle: Improving Quality, Efficacy, and Efficiency
- Amanda Glinky, MD (Gastroenterology): Best Case Presentation by a Fellow for A Case of Type 2 Autoimmune Pancreatitis Presenting with Direct Hyperbilirubinemia and Pancreatic Head Mass
- Adam Prevot, MD: Best Case Presentation by a Resident for A Case of Chromobacterium violaceum Infection in a Patient with a New Diagnosis of Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD)
GeauxHealth! is a collaboration between LSU and Tulane residents to create a resource guide promoting medical trainee awareness of social determinants of health as well as providing a tool for easy use in clinic and during discharge planning. In addition to creating a resource for providers, our goal is also to make the website patient friendly for future use. The website was designed with the help of Health Connection. Check it out! https://geauxhealth.org/
Congratulations to the following residents who matched into fellowships last week:
- Marie Bulathsinghala - Neonatology, Baylor
- Mary Lago - Neonatology, LSU
- Heather Valdin - Hematology/Oncology, LSU
- Devyn Rivera - Allergy/Immunology, LSU
- Sarah Short - Allergy/Immunology, LSU
- Nikita Lalchandani (Class of 2021) - Gastroenterology, Vanderbilt
- Casie James (Class of 2021) - Pediatric Palliative Care, Cincinnati Children's
Kudos to our fellowship programs who matched:
- Allergy/Immunology will welcome Devyn Rivera and Sarah Short from LSU Med/Peds and LSU Pediatrics Residency Programs respectively.
- Cardiology matched Jesus Jaile from Harlem Hospital System/Columbia University's Pediatric Residency Program.
- Neonatology matched Kathryn Cyrus from University of Alabama Pediatrics Residency Program and Mary Lago from LSU Pediatrics Residency Program.
- Pediatric Hospital Medicine will welcome their third fellow Tracey Omoegbele of the UT Health/McGovern Medical School at Houston Pediatrics Residency Program.
- Hematology/Oncology matched Heather Valdin from our own LSU Pediatrics Residency Program.
- Gastroenterology will have Amber Gafur from UT Health/McGovern Medical School at Houston Pediatrics Residency Program join them in July.
Congratulations to PGY-2 Pediatric Resident Dr. Jinnesse Taylor who was selected by the Association of Pediatric Program Directors as an APPD 2022 Advancing Inclusiveness in Medical Education Scholar! The AIMS (Advancing Inclusiveness in Medical Education Scholars) Program will take place before the annual APPD meeting in May 2022. The program will provide funding for travel and give Dr. Taylor the chance to learn about careers in pediatric medical education leadership.
Second-year Pediatric GI fellow Nicole Zeky's poster was selected as one of four posters to highlight during the annual North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition conference. Her project is titled "Impact of Food Deserts and Food Swamps on Severity of Presentation of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease". Others authors include Colleen LeBlanc, Elizabeth McDonough and Dedrick Moulton.
Physiology
Dr. Danielle Levitt was selected for the AWIS Outstanding Young Scientist Travel Award for Fall 2021. She also accepted a tenure-track faculty position at Texas Tech University beginning in fall 2022.
Dr. Levitt was invited to serve on the APS Endocrinology & Metabolism Section Award Subcommittee.
Dr. Levitt also presented a virtual career talk for the Fall 2021 Girls in STEM event at Berkner High School in November.
Dr. Marcus Weera presented a virtual talk, "Neurocircuitry of stress-induced alterations in alcohol-related behaviors" at the NIDA-NIAAA Frontiers on Addiction Research Symposium 2021.
Dr. Weera also won the NIDA-NIAAA Early Career Investigator Showcase Award.