HJNO Nov/Dec 2020

30 NOV / DEC 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs La., new expert physicians joining the team, new telecardiology partnerships with rural hospitals, and expansions at both the Thibodaux and Baton Rouge clinics. Local Boy Scout Donates 1,500 Books to DePaul Community Health Centers Matthew Bald, a Scout with Venture Crew 315, recently donated more than 1,500 books to DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) at the New Orleans East health center, 5630 Read Blvd. The books will be used for DCHC’s Read for Your Health program. An initiative of Reach Out and Read, Read for Your Health makes literacy promotion a stan- dard part of primary care. DCHC’s providers “pre- scribe” age-appropriate books to patients, from infants to age six, during pediatric well-visits, in order to stimulate early brain development and build children’s mental muscles. Older children select a book to take home with them after each health center visit. “We take great pride in providing opportuni- ties to promote creative and intellectual growth as part of our commitment to holistic care. Chil- dren love to have a book in hand and to inter- act with it. Our literacy program enriches every- one’s life and imagination, from infants through adult life. We continue to seek ways to encour- age the whole family to read,” said Sister Bonne Hoffman, DCHC’s vice president for mission inte- gration. “We thank Matthew and other members of his crew for their generous donation and their enthusiasm for reading.” Tulane Researchers Awarded Fast Grant for Second- Generation COVID-19 Vaccines As pharmaceutical firms race to bring the first COVID-19 vaccines to market, scientists are already working on version 2.0. Two Tulane Uni- versity researchers were awarded a $150,000 Fast Grant for a project to make next-generation COVID-19 vaccines more effective. Microbiologist Lisa Morici, PhD, and immunolo- gist James McLachlan, PhD, are testing whether they can elicit a better immune response in tis- sues most vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection — the lungs and gut — by adding two bacteria- based adjuvants to COVID-19 vaccines in devel- opment. Adjuvants are ingredients used in vac- cines to trigger an immune response. “Despite the rapid deployment of vaccines for SARS CoV-2, there is considerable uncer- tainty whether first-generation vaccines will halt the pandemic,” said Morici, associate professor of microbiology at Tulane University School of Medicine. “Vaccine adjuvants have the potential to dramatically improve the overall vaccine effi- cacy, and adjuvant choice is critical for driving the desired type of immune response.” The current top vaccine candidates use parts of the virus to trigger the body to produce antibod- ies, B cells, and T cells. It’s unclear how long these immune responses will last and whether people will need multiple doses of the vaccine for long- term protection. The researchers will study two vaccine adju- vants--a modified toxin derived from E. coli called dmLT and another based on outer mem- brane vesicles (OMVs), which are nanoparticles shed by bacteria. Both adjuvants were developed at Tulane through support from the NIH Adju- vant Development Program. Morici and McLach- lan have shown in previously published work that their adjuvants can stimulate the production of antibody-producing B cells and virus-fighting T cells in the tissues of the lung and gut. “We’re using adjuvants to actually drive these immune responses to the tissues where they’re needed most,” Morici said. “If we can use our adjuvants to induce antibodies as well as tis- sue-resident B and T cells, we can provide a much longer window of immunity in the very tis- sues where that immunity is most effective. The scientific evidence also suggests that tissue-res- ident immune cells may last longer than those in the blood.” Researchers will study the adjuvants in combi- nation using a mouse model of COVID-19. They will look at the different ways the immune system responds to vaccination as well as their overall protective abilities when the mice are challenged with the virus. Xavier Graduate Awarded Scholarship fromOchsner Health Xavier University of Louisiana graduate Rachel Coleman was awarded the 2020 Ochsner Health Medical School Scholarship for LSU Health Shreveport – School of Medicine. The scholar- ship award will cover cost of tuition and fees for Coleman to attend LSU School of Medicine at LSU Health Shreveport. Coleman graduated with a pre-med major in biology and a double minor in chemistry and Spanish, as well as a certificate in Medical Span- ish. Born and raised in New Orleans, Coleman is an active volunteer with community organiza- tions. Most recently, she volunteered at a local women’s health facility, engaging young women about health topics while shadowing a nurse practitioner. This also gave her the opportunity to gain hands-on experience while still attend- ing classes. While at Xavier, she was selected as a member of several honor societies, including The National Society of Leadership and Success and the Alpha Epsilon Delta Health Preprofes- sional Honor Society. “The current pandemic has elucidated the professionalism, altruism, courage, and caring Matthew Bald Rachel Coleman