James Miller Memorial Health Fair and Blood Drive Honors Dr. Fern Tsien's Son and His Tradition of Giving Back
>Leslie Capo, Director of Information Services
LSU Health New Orleans, Tulane University and The Blood Center held the James Miller
Memorial Health Fair and Blood Drive on Saturday, July 30, 2022 at the Audubon Tea
Room. James Benjamin Miller III went missing and was presumed drowned while vacationing
with his family in November 2021. The event honored the August 1 birthday and the
legacy of community service of this exceptional young man and the son of Fern Tsien,
Assistant Dean for Medical Student Research, and Chris Dvorak, faculty at Tulane University.
Activities included blood pressure screenings and the opportunity to save up to three lives by donating blood. Health education offerings included water safety and safe sleeping information for infants from the Jefferson and Orleans Parish Coroners' Offices, ALS education from Team Gleason, youth mentoring and mental health from Son of a Saint, addressing health disparities from Dillard University, as well as domestic abuse prevention and resources in Spanish from Golden Change.
The Tulane and LSU Health New Orleans Latino Medical Student Associations (LMSA) and LSU Health Latino Health Scholars provided health information in Spanish. Other LSU Health New Orleans participants included the Community Outreach, Rebuilding, and Education (CORE) medical students who provided blood pressure and glucose screenings, Tiger Pride medical student organization with LGBT health information, Krewe du Flu medical student organization with Flu Vaccine info, All of Us Program with information about precision medicine, the School of Public Health with tobacco and vaping cessation, and cancer information, as well as the Human Development Center with information about its deafblind program and resources for people with disabilities.
Blood donors received free t-shirts, and other giveaways included free snowballs. Live music was performed by the “Music and Medicine” Tulane Medical Student Band, the “LaCoste Band” (James' Ben Franklin High School teacher's jazz and R&B band), and “SIGMA,” the LSU Health New Orleans Medical Student Band.
Miller was a philosophy and history major at Tulane University. As Vice President of Community Engagement, he established a recycling system, organized student events, and led hurricane relief programs for residents who had been displaced by Hurricane Laura and more recently Hurricane Ida. He participated in community cleanup efforts and data collection for the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition. James worked during summers as a Counselor and an Instructor at the Audubon Zoo, where he received praise for his patience and kindness when working with children of all ages and abilities. His loss led to the approval and implementation of the Ley de Seguridad Acuática (Aquatic Safety Law) in El Salvador, which has already saved hundreds of lives.
Photographs (photo credits: Robert Tsien):
Top right: From left to right, medical student Logan Roberts, Dr. Rafael Velasquez (from Son of a Saint), Dr. Fern Tsien, and her son Paul Dvorak at the Son of a Saint table welcome participants.
Left: The Team Gleason table is manned by L1s (from left to right) Michael Connick, Charlotte Pearson, Marcie (Leanne) Sorrel, Amy Brouillette.
Below: The LSUHSC Medical Student Interest Group for Music and the Arts (SIGMA) band from left to right: Stephanie Lee, Sidney Jones, Michael Maurer, Alia Fleury, Matthew Herrera on the drums behind Alia, Seth Aucoin, and Austin Noel
Bottom: Blood Center donor technician Kevin Bailey draws blood from a volunteer.
