LSUHS Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences

We’re excited to host 19 undergraduate and medical students to across three summer research programs - CURIOUS, MS-CARDIO and AHA SURE. Be on the lookout for student spotlight posts to learn more about them and the projects they’re working on this summer!

Congratulations Dr. Orr!!

Congratulations to Dr. Wayne Orr, Director of the LSUHS Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences and Professor and Director of the LSU Health Shreveport Department of Pathology & Translational Pathobiology/Research Division, on being named the 2024-2025 President-Elect of the North American Vascular Biology Organization (NAVBO)!
Dr. Orr has been a member of NAVBO for nearly 20 years, joining the organization early in his career while completing his postdoctoral fellowship. He credits NAVBO and the connections he made with other scientists and mentors for helping shape his career. “Navigating a career path in biomedical research is rarely simple and never easy. However, becoming involved in NAVBO is a decision that I can look back on and be certain that I made the correct call. I [ran] for NAVBO President to help make sure that our trainees can look back in 20 years and feel the same way,” shared Dr. Orr.

Read more about Dr. Orr and his appointment here: https://bit.ly/orr-navbo

Save the date! Biomedical Research and Industry Day (BRAID) 2024 will be held at LSU Health Shreveport on Friday, November 1. More details will be shared on our website: https://www.lsuhs.edu/centers/cardiovascular-diseases-and-sciences/events/braid

The Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences was proud to be a sponsor of the American Heart Association's 2024 Northwest Louisiana Go Red for Women Luncheon. ❤️ This annual event helps raise critically-needed funds that support important education and research initiatives in the fight against heart disease and stroke. Dr. Karen Stokes, Assistant Director of Scientific Excellence for the CCDS, shared how AHA donations support the cardiovascular disease research happening at LSU Health Shreveport. and our researchers who have been awarded AHA grants were recognized for their important work.

Congratulations!!

Ashley Wilkins and Ashton Jorgensen have demonstrated outstanding dedication and commitment to the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and their accomplishments have earned them the coveted Chancellor and Dean's Award. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Congratulations to Dr. Chris Kevil, former CCDS Director (2013-2017) and Principal Investigator of the Center for Redox Biology and Cardiovascular Disease COBRE, on recently being named an AAAS Fellow!

Dr. Chris Kevil, Vice Chancellor for Research at LSU Health Shreveport, has been named an AAAS Fellow by the AAAS - The American Association for the Advancement of Science! Dr. Kevil is the second faculty member in our institution’s history to be elected as an AAAS Fellow, one of the highest distinctions within the scientific community. This program honors scientists, engineers, and innovators whose efforts are scientifically or socially distinguished. Dr. Kevil was elected for his distinguished contributions to the field of redox biology and cardiovascular disease, particularly with nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide regulation of oxidative stress.

Congratulations to Dr. Kevil on this outstanding and well-deserved accomplishment! The LSU Health Shreveport family is proud of your extraordinary contributions and continued work to advance science.

Read the full announcement and learn more about this prestigious honor here: https://engage.aaas.org/3VP0OZs

Dr. Tarek Helmy, Assistant Director of Clinical and Translational Research for the CCDS at LSU Health Shreveport, has been recognized as a 2024 Cardiothoracic Surgery Research All-Star. This distinction acknowledges the substantial and high-quality research contributions made through co-authored publications. Curated by Avant-Garde Health, the Healthcare Research All-Star lists feature exclusively the top 5% of hospitals and surgeons who are leading the way in innovative research within Cardiothoracic Surgery care and other specialties. Explore the comprehensive lists and learn more about this achievement at https://avantgardehealth.com/best-cardiothoracic-surgeons-hospitals-research-all-stars

The Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences is honored to have Dr. Angel Baldan, from Saint Louis University School of Medicine, to provide a talk this morning on "Cholesterol, miRNAs, and VLDL Secretion" at our monthly Malcolm Feist Cardiovascular Seminar Series.

The CCDS is excited to have Dr. Athar Chishti, from Tufts University School of Medicine, to provide a talk on “Calpain-1: A Potential Therapeutic Protease for Cardiovascular Health” at our monthly seminar series.

Congratulations to the winners at the 2024 Society for Redox Biology and Medicine (SfRBM) Regional Redox Symposium!

Talk Presentations:
1st - Gowtham Annarapu, PhD (University of Pittsburgh)
2nd - Nicole Colussi (University of Pittsburgh)
3rd - Adesewa Akande (LSU Health Shreveport)

Poster Presentations:
1st - Bo Wood (LSU Health Shreveport)
2nd - Clifton Haacker (LSU Health Shreveport)
3rd - Alyssa Wheeler (University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center)

The CCDS is excited to have Dr. Giovanni Ferrari, from Columbia University, to provide a talk on “Stuctural Heart Disease: Physiology, Therapeutic Targets, and Engineered Biomaterials for Cardiac Surgery” at our monthly seminar series.

Dr. Nirav Dhanesha and Harpreet Kaur (pictured), Post-Doctoral Fellow in Dr. Dhanesha's lab attended the American Heart Association International Stroke Conference 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. ❤

LSU Health Shreveport’s Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences (CCDS) has been chosen by the American Heart Association (AHA) to join its Supporting Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program. This prestigious program aims to support individuals from underrepresented groups interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM).

Applications for the AHA SURE program are currently open, with a deadline of February 28, 2024, coinciding with the deadline for the CURIOUS program. Interested students can apply: https://www.lsuhs.edu/centers/cardiovascular-diseases-and-sciences/aha-sure.

Just a moment...

Come see us at LSU Shreveport for IDEAS Day!! We will be here until 2pm today!!

IDEAS Day is a free, come-and-go community event designed for school-aged children. Hosted by LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine students, this fun-filled day is designed to expose children to the excitement and wonders of science.

Congratulations to our Malcolm Feist Cardiovascular Research Symposium Poster Winners!!

Predoctoral Poster Category:
1st - Megan Butler
2nd - Gerardo Cruz-Marquez
3rd - Brenna Pearson-Gallion

Postdoctoral Poster Category:
1st - Matthew Scott, PhD
2nd - Sumati Rohilla, PhD
3rd - Harpreet Kaur, PhD

Clinical Poster Category:
1st - Jolie Boullion
2nd - Lilly Kamberov
3rd - Paul Ndunda, MD

Congratulations to the 2024 D. Neil Granger, Ph.D. Outstanding Trainee Winners!!

Are you interested in a biomedical career that includes cardiovascular research? If so, we have an 8-week National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIHLBI) summer training program that includes housing, travel and a $3800 stipend.

The CURIOUS program will take place next summer from June 10 - August 2, 2024.

Apply Today: https://www.lsuhs.edu/.../cardiovascular-diseases.../curious
Application Deadline - February 12th

Congratulations!!

Let's all welcome our new council. Hoping for another year of growing and showcasing our postdocs achievements.

The first Friday in February is National Wear Red Day. Some of our faculty, staff, students and trainees joined the American Heart Association - Louisiana on February 2nd and wore Red to help raise awareness of heart disease.

Congratulations!!

The CCDS is excited to have Dr. Rebecca Haeusler, PhD, from Columbia University, to give a talk at the our monthly seminar series on "Inter-organ Crosstalk by Bile Acids and Lipoproteins in Cardiometabolic Disease."

Are you interested in a biomedical career that includes cardiovascular research?

If so, we have an 8-week National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIHLBI) summer training program that includes housing, travel and a $3800 stipend. The CURIOUS program will take place next summer from June 10 - August 2, 2024.

Apply Today: https://www.lsuhs.edu/centers/cardiovascular-diseases-and-sciences/curious

Application Deadline - February 12th

November is . Researchers from the Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences and LSU Health Shreveport Center for Brain Health have a history of working together to study hydrogen sulfide, a signaling molecule important in vascular homeostasis and a known biomarker of cardiovascular disease. They hypothesized that plasma hydrogen sulfide and its metabolites were also related to vascular and cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Their research found that hydrogen sulfide is dysregulated in dementia, providing a potential biomarker for diagnosis and intervention. Read more about their findings that were published in the journal 𝐴𝑙𝑧ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑟'𝑠 & 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8451930