School of Medicine

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff for achieving special distinction this quarter:

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Cell Biology and Anatomy

• Sonya Van Nuland was awarded the Allen Copping Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Spring commencement ceremony.
• Dr. Hamilton Farris was named Best Science Educator at the Spring commencement ceremony.
• Senior Surgical Anatomy won Best Senior Elective and the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy was named Best Basic Science Department at the Spring commencement ceremony.

Internal Medicine

• The following faculty have been named UMC Difference Makers this quarter: Drs. Zee Ali, Scott Laura, Frank Smart (Cardiology); Drs. Jacques Ancelet, Mary DiFranco, Sean Hardy, Brent Jones, Leslie Lindley, Randy Sorge (Emergency Medicine); Drs. Lee Engel, Lauren Nunez (Hospital Medicine); Dr. Sarah Griffin (Hospital Medicine/Emergency Medicine); and Dr. Fred Lopez (Infectious Diseases). 
• Dr. Amita Krishnan (Pulmonary/Critical Care & Allergy/Immunology) has been awarded the LSU Faculty Assembly Outstanding Accomplishments by a Junior Faculty Member. This award recognizes significant contributions by an individual young faculty member.
• Dr. Pierre Detiege (Emergency Medicine) has been awarded the LSU Faculty Assembly Outstanding Service in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Efforts. This award recognizes individuals who have created major, enduring contributions to the SOM DEI efforts and have advanced the SOM DEI mission, thereby contributing specifically to the area of anti-discrimination.
• Dr. Sanjay Kamboj (Pulmonary & Critical Care/ Allergy & Immunology) has been elected to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee as a Board of Supervisors-Faculty Advisory Committee Representative. He was also elected Chair of the LSU Council of Faculty Advisors, which reports to LSU Board of Supervisors (PM24). The Council of Faculty Advisors serve as a liaison between the university and the faculties of the campuses that comprise Louisiana State University.
• Dr. Efrain Reisin (Nephrology) has been asked to serve as a peer reviewer of the American Heart Association 2022-2023 Fellowship Hypertension committee.
• Dr. Meredith Clement (Infectious Diseases) has been elected to serve as a Faculty Assembly School of Medicine Delegate from 2022-2025.    
• Dr. Ben Springgate (Community & Population Medicine) was selected as a 2022-2023 Health and Aging Policy Fellow. Fellows were selected based on commitment to health and aging issues, leadership potential, and interest in impacting policy. The Program includes individuals from multiple disciplines, various work settings, and at different career stages.
• Dr. Pia Chowdry (Hematology-Oncology) has been appointed to serve as a National Cancer Institutes Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Site Co-Chair for a recently initiated study, Disparities in Results of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment (DiRECT). The study is a prospective cohort study of cancer survivors' treatment with anti PD-1/anti PD L1 Immunotherapy in a community oncology setting.

Obstetrics and Gynecology

• Dr. Victoria Bone was this year's E-poster winner at the 10th Annual LSU QI/PS Forum hosted by the LSU GME EQuIP Committee held in June. The poster was titled, ““Optimizing Screening and Treatment of Anemia in the Obstetric Patient in a High-Volume Clinic.”
• Dr. Holly Provost, Section Chief Gynecologic Services, Clerkship Director of OBGYN, and Associate Professor, Clinical - OB/GYN at Lafayette Ochsner- University Hospital and Clinics, was nominated and a finalist for the Copping Teacher Award.
• Dr. Provost was also awarded the Golden Scalpel Award (Faculty Teaching Award), given by the chief residents for the faculty member who was most instrumental in their surgical career. 
• Dr. Provost, together with Yetunde Akinde, MD and Andrew Chapple, PhD, were the LSUHSC Resident Research Day First Place Winners (May 2022) with their presentation on Impact of Video-enhanced Preoperative Counseling on Patient Satisfaction and Postoperative Care within a Teaching Institution. (photo, right)

Ophthalmology

• Jayne S Weiss MD, Ophthalmology Chair, was appointed Associate Secretary for Research, Regulatory and External Scientific Relations of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
• Bruce Barron, MD, Professor, was presented with the Outstanding in Clinical Teaching Award by the ophthalmology residents at graduation.
• Victor Carriere, MD, Clinical Teaching Faculty, was presented with the Outstanding in Clinical Teaching Award by the ophthalmology residents at graduation.
• Maria Reinoso, MD has been inducted as Vice-President of the Louisiana Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons as of July 2022.

Orthopaedic Surgery

• Dr. Anna Cohen-Rosenblum has been awarded the prestigious Hip Society-British Hip Society Traveling Fellowship. The fellowship is only awarded to two North American hip surgeons within five years of practice with a documented interest in advancing hip surgery via publications, presentations, and research, to travel throughout the United Kingdom for three weeks. Fellows are hosted by world renowned experts in adult hip reconstruction. The program includes opportunities for scientific exchange, operating room observations, close interaction with faculty, as well as social and cultural events. Alumni of this fellowship include surgeons from Stanford University, the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Washington University. Dr. Cohen-Rosenblum will be the program's first female fellow as well as the first fellow from LSU Health.

Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

• Dr. Vilija Vaitaitis was nominated for a UMC Healthcare Hero Awards in the category of "Rising Star." The event was held at Tipitinas in June and honored 10 different categories of Health Care Heroes from UMC. 

Pathology

• Dr. Rachna Jetly is the recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award. This award was established in 2010 by the LSU Pathology Residents to honor one faculty member who shows an extraordinary commitment to the program and to the teaching of residents.  It is presented by the Chief Residents at the end of the year. Photo, right

 

 

Pediatrics

• The Nephrology Division has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as #49 in the nation for the specialty for 2022-23. The annual Best Children's Hospitals rankings and ratings, now in their 16th year, are designed to assist families and their doctors in making informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions. Photo, below

• Dr. Bonnie Desselle and Dr. Alexis Morvant were selected for the LSUHSC SOM Faculty Assembly Outstanding Service to the Institution Awards. This award recognizes those individuals who have made major, enduring contributions to the development of the LSUHSC-SOM and who have advanced its mission. Dr. Desselle and Dr. Morvant's selections identify their service to LSU Health-SOM by colleagues and speaks volumes to their dedication and hard work. Interim Dean DiCarlo has generously provided an educational grant and a plaque to accompany this award. Key indicators for this award include:
  • Effective participatation in institutional committees, resulting in programmatic development or change
  • Elected or appointed to leadership role(s) in institutional committees (indicative of trust and recognition of past superior service and administrative abilities)
  • Promoted innovation and excellence in the SOM
  • Enhanced participation and engagement of SOM faculty across the various SOM sites.
• Dr. Alexis Morvant has been named the Gold Humanism Honor Society 20th Anniversary Chapter Honoree. As part of the 2022 Annual Gala and the 20th anniversary of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, the Gold Foundation invited each chapter to recognize one person who was instrumental to their chapter's success. The LSUHSC Chapter chose Alexis Morvant, MD as their honoree and celebrated Dr. Morvant for founding the LSU Chapter while still a medical students and for developing the palliative care program at Children's Hospital.
• Charles Hemenway, MD, PhD has been named as the Jeffery Modell Professor of Pediatric Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases, an LSU Health Foundation Professorship. Dr. Hemenway will use the funds to enhance research in leukemias and the role of primary immunodeficiencies with childhood cancer.
• Dr. Cori Morrison was nominated and selected as an honoree for the 2022 National Coalition of Black Women Sheroes Award in Healthcare. This national organization advocates and promotes gender equity in health, education and economic empowerment in underrepresented populations. Dr. Morrison was nominated for her endeavors involving community outreach, promoting healthcare access and mentorship in efforts to narrow the gap of underrepresented minority groups in medicine. 
• Dr. Marie Bulathsinghala and her project group was this year's oral presentation winner at the 10th Annual LSU QI/PS Forum hosted by the LSU GME EQuIP Committee held in June. The presentation was titled, “Improving Critical Patient Transitions from OR to NICU Using a Standardized Handoff Tool.” (Marie Bulathsinghala, MD, PhD, C. Mumphrey, MD, B. Barkemeyer, MD, J. Zagory, MD, L. Richard, RN, K. Vincent, RN, D. Sciacca, J. Gallois, MD).
• Dr. Betty Lo has been bestowed the title of Professor Emeritus upon her retirement in recognition of 30 years of service to LSU Health New Orleans, especially in her leadership of the Combined Residency Program in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Photo, right
• Dr. Raghubir Mangat has been awarded the Louisiana American Academy of Pediatrics Master Pediatrician Award.
• Dr. Marcella Houser was recognized for her extraordinary contributions to the Academic Pediatric Association by Academic Pediatric Association President Dr. Barry Solomon in a letter to outgoing Chairman Dr. Ray Watts. Dr. Houser served as the Region Chair, organized the Southern Regional Meeting conference, served as a session moderator and abstract reviewer, organized and facilitated the first virtual Region 7 & 8 meeting in 2021, organized APA Region breakfasts for PAS meetings, and assisted with recruitment of new members.

Physiology

• Dr. Patricia Molina is the inaugural Department of Physiology Alumna Award winner.
• Dr. Elizabeth Avegno won a “virtual” travel award for International Union of Physiological Sciences, 2022.

Psychiatry

• During the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting held in New Orleans recently, Dr. Rahn Bailey presented Dr. Howard Osofsky with an award recognizing his years of service as Department Head. The event was attended virtually by Dr. Osofsky's colleagues in the APA. Photo, below

• Additionally, the following LSUHSC faculty were recognized during the APA annual meeting's awards convocation: Rahn Bailey, MD - Distinguished Life Fellow; Margaret Bishop Baier, MD - Distinguished Life Fellow; Kathleen Crapanzano, MD -Distinguished Life Fellow; and Erich Conrad, MD - Distinguished Fellow.
• Dr. John Hutchings, Director of Psychiatric Services at the New Orleans Musicians' clinic, received a significant donation to support the NOMC from the "APA Gives Back" program.

Surgery

• Dr. Charles Chappuis, Professor of Surgery, Clerkship Director for Surgery at Lafayette Ochsner-University Hospital and Clinics received the W. Chapman Lee Award for outstanding faculty of the year in the Surgery Department. The award is chosen annually by medical students. Dr. Lee was in attendance and personally gave Dr. Chappuis the award.