HONORS & APPOINTMENTS S p o r t s M e d i c i n e p hy s i c i a n s w e re recognized by Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser at the annual hospitality awards hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau. Representing LSUHS at the awards ceremony were Dr. Peter Seidenberg, Chair of Family Medicine, and Dr. Charles Webb, Director of Sports Medicine Division. LSU Health Shreveport was recognized as Healthcare Provider of the Year. LSUHS School of Allied Health Professions was recognized by the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research with the Marquette Challenge Award of Merit for raising over $8,000 which will go toward physical therapy research. The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care awarded the LSUHS Respiratory Therapy/Cardiopulmonary Science Program with the 2021 Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award CoARC Award that denotes the measure of a program’s success through rigorous criteria which include a credentialing success of 90% and to have met or exceeded CoARC thresholds for TMC high cut score and retention. The following Family Practice residents in Alexandria were recognized by the Regional Medical Director for the Region 6 Louisiana Office of Public Health for their extraordinary efforts during Hurricane Ida. These residents treated 899 patients at the Alexandria Megashelter over a 32-day period, with 100 of those patients being seen in a 24-hour period. These individuals were praised for their steady, personable, and competent efforts which resulted in outstanding patient care. Dr. Ashley Billings Dr. Kayelinda Heiner Dr. Ronak Shah Dr. Brianna Shaffer Dr. Cade Burns Dr. Stephen Finney Dr. James Shute Dr. Lois Buller Dr. Bethany Citerella Erin Yates, RN, BSN has been selected as the Director of the Clinical Trials Office. She is responsible for reviewing federal and state laws, regulations, institutional polices, and guidelines used to provide guidance to faculty, Principal Investigators, and research staff to ensure institutional compliance of human subject laws. John Vanchiere, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Chief of Division of Infectious Disease, Director of COVID-19 Community Testing and Vaccinations, and Principal Investigator of Pfizer COVID-19 Clinical Trial, was appointed to serve as the Medical Director for the Clinical Trials Office. In his new role, Dr. Vanchiere will provide medical support for all clinical trials conducted by LSU Health Shreveport. He will be instrumental in the design and implementation of investigator-initiated clinical trials, determining feasibility of proposed clinical trials and ensuring that clinical trials are in accordance with federal, state, or local laws, and provide input in all federal and state audits of clinical research. Amber N. Edinoff, MD, PGY-3 Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Medical Education Resident Research Award by Provost Dr. Alan Kaye. Dr. Edinoff was selected for her outstanding research contributions, having worked on over 40 papers in the past year on topics 14
INSIDE LSU HEALTH SHREVEPORT
including, psychiatry, pain, and pharmacology and contributed as a Guest Editor for a special issue on Schizophrenia in Neurology International. Dr. Edinoff was also awarded First Pplace in the Case Report Category at the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association Meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Feb.27, 2021. Cynthia Peterson, PhD, alumna and current LSU College of Science Dean, was named Special Advisor on Scien ce by L SU President William F. Ta te. D r. Peterson received her PhD in biochemistry from LSU H e a l t h S h r e v e p o r t S c h o o l o f G r a d u a t e St u d i e s . Nicholas Goeders, PhD, Chairman of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and Executive Director of Louisiana Addiction Research Center, was appointed to the JanOne Scientific Advisory Board. Vijayakumar Javalkar, MD, MCh, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Associate Program Director of Neurology Residency Program, was named the Castle Connolly Regional Top Doctor 2021. The elite designation is based on superior ability to achieve the best possible health outcomes. R. Keith White, MD, FACS was announced as Chief Medical Officer of Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport-Academic Medical Center (hospital). Dr. White joined the Ochsner LSU Health team in 2018 and was previously Chief Medical Director for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe. He is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery for LSU Health Shreveport and holds the John C. McDonald MD Endowed Chair of Surgery. Dr. White was appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards to the Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN) Board. Dr. White was also elected Secretary of the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Navdeep Samra, MD, FICS, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery and General Surgery Residency Program Director, was appointed to serve as a member of the Louisiana, District 2, Committee on Applicants of the American College of Surgeons for a three-year term. Dr. Samra was also elected as the October 2020 Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Provider of the Month. Rohit Ranganath, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, received the 2020 Young Fellows Association Award at the Louisiana Chapter of American College of Surgeons meeting. John R. Mercke, MD, PGY-3 Family Medicine Resident in Alexandria, received the 2021 Louisiana Academy of Family Physician’s Foundation Resident Award of Excellence. During residency training he served as Resident Wellness Coordinator and Resident Representative for Rapides Regional Medical Center’s Residency Advisory Council.
