HJNO May/Jun 2022

40 MAY / JUN 2022  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs LDH Launches NewCOVID-19 Community Support Hotline The Louisiana Department of Health has launched its new COVID-19 Community Sup- port Hotline, which merges the former contact tracing hotline and the COVID-19 vaccine hot- line to provide the general public one convenient resource to get their COVID-19 and vaccine ques- tions answered. Residents can call the new COVID-19 Commu- nity Support Hotline at (855) 453-0774 to: • Schedule vaccine and booster appointments. • Schedule a homebound vaccination appointment. • Speak to a medical professional. • Get their questions answered on what to do next after becoming COVID positive or exposed. • Get connected to resources while in isola- tion or quarantine (assuming eligibility and availability). All calls are confidential and phone menu options are listed in both English and Spanish. The hotline is available Monday through Sat- urday from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 p.m.-8 p.m. Tulane University Receives $4.1M for HIV Research Researchers at Tulane University will use a new $4.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how a common virus may help HIV persist in viral reservoirs and out of reach of leading antiretroviral therapies. These viral reservoirs are the main hurdle to cur- ing HIV as the virus rebounds if patients stop tak- ing the life-saving antiretroviral therapies, or ART, that keep HIV at undetectable levels in the blood. Lead investigator Joseph Mudd, PhD, assis- tant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane National Primate Research Center, will investigate how long-term ART and coinfec- tion with cytomegalovirus, a common virus, may contribute to the persistence of this viral reser- voir, preventing successful clearance of HIV from the body. For those living with HIV, management of the infection requires a consistent and often life- long commitment to ART, which prevents viral replication in infected CD4 T cells, a type of white blood cell. ART prevents the virus from replicat- ing, but does not eradicate latently infected cells from the body. Those infected with HIV are also nearly univer- sally coinfected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a latent herpes virus that causes no issues or symp- toms for those with healthy immune systems. As a coinfection with HIV, CMV continually stimulates the division of CD4 T cells, some of which may be latently infected, contributing to the size and persistence of the HIV reservoir. Using a nonhuman primate model of infection, Mudd and his team will evaluate how the HIV res- ervoir behaves in both CMV-negative and CMV- positive subjects receiving ART treatment, and assess how the persistence of the HIV reservoir is affected by the addition of antiviral treatments that specifically target CMV. In doing so, Mudd seeks to identify how CMV infection may contribute to sustaining the HIV res- ervoir, and understand how CMV-targeted antivi- rals might be used to accelerate the clearance of HIV from the body. Louisiana Healthcare Connections Recognized as a Multicultural Healthcare Leader Louisiana Healthcare Connections has been awarded the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Distinction in Multicultural Health Care. LSUHealth NewOrleans, Xavier Partner onMedical School Early Acceptance Program LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine will begin reviewing applications recommended by Xavier University of Louisiana for early accep- tance into medical school through a new pro- gram launched this year. At the time of condi- tional acceptance, LSU Health New Orleans will provide Louisiana residents who commit a con- ditional full four-year scholarship. “We are dedicated to increasing the diversity of the professional health workforce,” said Steve Nelson, MD, LSU Health New Orleans interim chancellor. “Xavier has been enormously suc- cessful nationally in graduating pre-med students, and it seemed a natural partnership to keep these promising future physicians right here at home.” To be eligible for the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine-Xavier University of Louisi- ana Early Acceptance Program, a Xavier student must satisfy certain requirements at the end of the spring semester of sophomore year, includ- ing being prepared to be on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Xavier in the spring of the senior year and to enter medical school that same year, completing at least 60 semes- ter hours of courses at Xavier and completing required courses — eight semester hours of general biology with lab, eight semester hours of general chemistry with lab, eight semester hours of organic chemistry with lab, two semes- ters of mathematics (at least one statistics course is required), and two semesters of English. “Xavier University of Louisiana is happy to part- ner with LSU Health in our joint work to educate cohorts of talented medical professionals,” said Xavier University of Louisiana President Reynold Verret. “With their assistance, we will continue diversify the face of medicine and bring forth representation needed by the U.S. population. Xavier thanks LSU Health for taking on this chal- lenge with us.” “Together with Xavier University we will help address the need to recruit more underrepre- sented students into the medical profession,” says Richard DiCarlo, MD, interim dean of LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine. “We will keep their best and brightest students here in Louisiana to serve the people of the community and state for years to come. This is an important moment for the School of Medicine, and we are grateful for Xavier’s partnership.” Acceptance into LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine is contingent upon the nom- inated student receiving an acceptable MCAT score and meeting other requirements outlined in the conditional acceptance letter. Students must still submit a formal application through the American Medical College Application Ser- vice (AMCAS). Students are permitted to apply to other medical schools and are not required to attend LSU Health New Orleans. However, appli- cants who also apply to other medical schools will forfeit eligibility for the full four-year schol- arship. n