Research News

Wall Street Journal - Some virologists believe the Delta variant evolved to maximize transmissibility and that its ability to spread rapidly will eventually reach a ceiling as more of the global population gets vaccinated. “It looks like this virus is already driving a Lamborghini right now in terms of transmissibility, so I’m not sure it can get much faster,” said Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at LSU Health Shreveport who is studying coronavirus genetics. Read the full article.

The research of Lynn Harrison, PhD, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at LSUHS, was selected by NASA’s Space Biology Program as one of three space biology proposals to prepare for future research on the surface of the moon. 

Mabruka Alfaidi, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Pathology at LSU Health Shreveport, has been selected as a recipient of an American Heart Association Career Development Award. This prestigious award supports highly promising healthcare and academic professionals in the early years of their career by funding innovative research and training to assure the future success of the awardee as a cardiovascular independent scientist.

Wayne Nix has been named the new Chief Innovation Officer of Research at LSUHS, effective July 15, 2021. Mr. Nix is an experienced entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in both healthcare and business development and management arenas. He has also led many team innovation strategies while providing mentorship for new entrepreneurs.

BIZ Magazine - Celeste Y.C. Wu, PhD, post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Neurology at LSU Health Shreveport, was awarded the American Heart Association Career Development Award receiving $231,000 in funding.

PRNewswire — JanOne Inc. (Nasdaq: JAN), a company focused on developing treatments for conditions that cause severe pain and drugs with non-addictive, pain-relieving properties, today announced the appointment of Nicholas E. Goeders, Ph.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Dr. Goeders is considered one of the world’s leaders on the role of stress in drug addiction.

Louisiana Radio Network - The objective of the grant is to strengthen global capabilities to detect and respond to pandemic threats in the future. Director for Emerging Viral Threats at LSUHS Dr. Andrew Yurochko said the award is indicative of LSU Health Shreveport’s strides in detecting variants and assisting with vaccine rollout.

Red River Radio - Work by Drs. Jeremy Kamil and Rona Scott along with COBRE principal investigators Drs. Andrew Yurochko and Chris Kevil has produced and shared 2,839 full coverage SARS-CoV-2 genomes, which amounts to over 60% of the SARSCoV-2 genome surveillance from Louisiana, and 1.2 % of the total US data submitted to GISAID which is the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data.

The Rockefeller Foundation - LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) is receiving funding ($340,000) from the Rockefeller Foundation. This follows the announcement yesterday of LSUHS being awarded $730,000 to further its work in genomic sequencing of COVID-19 through a NIH supplemental grant.  LSUHS joins Harvard and the Broad Institute at MIT among others in the US Regional Accelerators for Genomic Surveillance.

Chris Kevil, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Research at LSU Health Shreveport, was awarded a 4-year NIH R01 grant for $1.7 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for his project, “CSE regulation of vascular remodeling.”

Dr. Arrigo DeBenedetti receives Spring 2021 Feist Weiller Cancer Center (FWCC) Bridging Award grant in the amount of $100,000.

LSU Health Shreveport has identified two cases of the novel COVID-19 variant of concern, B.1.617.2, which was first identified in India and is rapidly spreading around the world. LSU Health Shreveport sequencing also reveals that B.1.1.7, sometimes called “the U.K. variant,” remains dominant in North Louisiana, as is the case in the rest of the United States, as well. 

Kevin S. Murnane, PhD, was awarded the NINDS grant for the research project entitled, “Exploring the Role of Oxytocin in the Regulation of Neuronal Excitability,” is focused on form of catastrophic childhood epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.