HJNO Sep/Oct 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  SEP / OCT 2021 63 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalNO.com St. Tammany Health SystemEarns Geriatric ERAccreditation St. Tammany Health Systemmain campus Emer- gency Department is an accredited Geriatric Emergency Department, according to the Amer- ican College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and its Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) program. Thibodaux Regional Welcomes Lindsay Lasseigne, MD, Neurosurgeon Thibodaux Regional Health System announced the addition of Lindsay Lasseigne, MD, neuro- surgeon, to the active medical staff. Lasseigne is available to care for patients at Thibodaux Regional Brain and Spine Clinic, located 726 North Acadia Road, Suite 2100 in Thibodaux. A native of Lockport, Lasseigne earned an undergraduate degree from Nicholls State Uni- versity and received a medical degree from Lou- isiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She also completed a residency and an internship in neurosurgery at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Lasseigne completed a fellowship in neurocritical care at Case Western Reserve University - Univer- sity Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Cleve- land, Ohio. Lasseigne specializes in surgical treatment and management of disorders of the nervous system, including degenerative disc disease, chronic neck and back pain, radiculopathy and myelopathy, traumatic injuries and spine fractures, carpal tun- nel syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and brain and spinal tumors. She has special training in minimally invasive spine surgery and management of criti- cally ill neurological patients. Med Students Honored for Response to In-Flight Medical Emergency LSU Health New Orleans second-year medical students Heather Duplessis and Lauren Bagne- ris were honored by the Louisiana State Legisla- ture and Mayor LaToya Cantrell during a visit to LSU Health New Orleans by new LSU President William Tate IV. Senators Joseph Bouie (D-District 3) and Jimmy Harris (D-District 4) presented a resolution from the Louisiana State Legislature commending the students for putting their LSU Health Medical edu- cation to use to assist a passenger with a medical emergency aboard an airplane. The stop on the campus tour afforded Presi- dent Tate an opportunity to see some of the most advanced new-era simulation technology avail- able in the United States. LSU Health New Orleans pioneered simulation- based medical education 20 years ago and has remained one of the nation’s top patient simu- lation education centers ever since. Two floors with about 30,000 square feet provide a large array of both high-fidelity and low-fidelity simu- lation equipment to support innovative, multi- disciplinary and inter-professional education of healthcare students and professionals. The Learn- ing Center houses multiple simulation suites and state-of-the-art audio-visual technology within the Isidore Cohn, Jr., MD, Student Learning Cen- ter and the Russell C. Klein MD (‘59) Center for Advanced Practice. Tulane University Launches ‘Biobank’ for Researchers Studying Causes of Long COVID-19 For most people, a mild case of COVID-19 lasts less than two weeks. But some COVID-19 “long- haulers” face a range of symptoms — dizziness, brain fog, headaches and loss of their sense of smell — that can linger for months. Researchers can’t explain exactly why. Tulane University has launched a new COVID-19 “biobank” of blood and cell samples from COVID- 19 survivors to help researchers investigate what causes some to recover quickly from the virus while others face lasting symptoms. The COVID- 19 Biobank and Library at Tulane (COBALT) will safely store hundreds of biological samples that will be available to scientists at the university as well as external collaborators across the country. About 10-30% of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 will have lingering symptoms that can affect the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin and brain. Long COVID symptoms include losing the sense of taste and smell, memory problems, fatigue, muscle aches, trouble sleeping, hair loss and more. The range of symptoms varies widely, but doctors call the syndrome post-acute sequelae SARS-Cov-2 infection or PASC. Although age, obesity and other underlying health issues are risk factors for PASC, research suggests that nearly 20% of suspected cases are in adults aged 18-34 with no chronic medical conditions. Thibodaux Regional Welcomes ChristenMcDaniel, MD, toMedical Staff Thibodaux Regional Health System announced the addition of Christen McDaniel, MD, pediatri- cian, to the active medical staff. McDaniel is avail- able to care for patients at Thibodaux Regional Pediatric Clinic located 807 Ridgefield Road in Thibodaux. McDaniel earned an undergraduate degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee and received a medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in pediatrics at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. McDaniel is board- certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. Aleena Shahiryar, DDS, Joins DCHC as Dental Director DePaul Community Health Centers recently hired Aleena Shahiryar, DDS, to serve as dental director and a practicing dentist. Shahiryar pre- viously worked as dental site director at Com- munity Health Connections (CHC), an FQHC in Fitchburg, Massachusettes. She also worked as a faculty member for NYU Langone’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry program at CHC. Prior to working in Fitchburg, Shahiryar was the lead dentist at Bluebonnet Dental Care in Hatties- burg, Mississippi and has previous experience as administrator and general dentist practitioner at Christen McDaniel, MD