Dr. Qihui "Jim" Zhai, MD, FACP has been named Professor and Chair of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology and the holder of the Albert G and Harriet G Smith Endowment in Pathology at LSU Health Shreveport. He will also serve as Chief of Pathology at the Ochsner LSU Health System. Dr. Zhai will assume his new role on August 1.

This prestigious award, sponsored by the American Heart Association’s Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB Council), recognizes investigators in the formative years of their faculty careers who have the potential to become future leaders in cardiovascular research.

James Cotelingam, MD, Director of Clinical Pathology was honored with the Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Awards, which is based on recipient's career longevity, philanthropic endeavors, and lasting contributions to society.

LCPT is a rare type of renal disease characterized by accumulation of nephrotoxic monoclonal light chains, usually in crystalline form, within kidney tubules. The disease is usually associated with some form of light chain-producing monoclonal disease (for example, multiple myeloma or B-cell lymphoma) and usually presents as acute or chronic renal failure along with acidosis and significant protein in the urine.

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.

Dr. A. Wayne Orr was appointed as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Pathology beginning January 1, 2021.

Dr. Rajib Gupta has been selected as one of the committee members of the "Communications and Website committee" of Renal Pathology Society for the year 2021. 

Clinical research by Dr. Judy King, Professor of Pathology at LSUHS, is featured on the cover of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, regarding recent diagnosis and treatment of kidney ailment of a patient who tested positive for COVID-19.

Dr. Rajib Gupta, shares "COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic which has affected over 12 million people across the globe. Manifestations in different organs systems are being reported regularly. Renal biopsy findings in hospitalized COVID-19 patients presenting solely with acute kidney injury have recently been described in published literature in few case reports. We describe the kidney biopsy findings of two patients who had recent diagnoses of COVID-19 and presented with new-onset nephrotic syndrome."

Three Fellows in the Department of Pathology and the Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences have been awarded Fellowships funding their ongoing research into cardiovascular diseases.