Our Partners
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans
LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans is the state’s academic health leader, educating Louisiana’s healthcare professionals. LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the state’s only School of Dentistry, Louisiana’s only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty cares for patients in public and private hospitals, and clinics throughout the region. At the forefront of biosciences research, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates many jobs and an enormous economic impact. LSUHSC faculty members have and continue to make lifesaving discoveries that advance treatment and cure disease.
Discoveries
Master Gene Regulator
LSUHSC Cancer Center scientists are the first to reveal the inner workings of a master gene regulator, which can control a diverse array of functions. The gene regulator stimulates nerve cells to “rewire” in response to external stimuli and controls the mechanism by which certain viruses hijack the immune system's normal response. Further, it can control how fast cancer cells divide, which is essential in regulating the immune response to cancer.
Enzyme Use for Treatment
LSUHSC Cancer Center researchers discovered how an enzyme produced by cells of the immune system could be used to treat T-cell leukemia, an aggressive type of leukemia that is particularly difficult to treat in adult patients. Testing has now begun on solid tumors of the lung and liver.
Pediatric Weight Management Programs
LSUHSC researchers developed one of the world’s most successful pediatric weight management programs. The National Cancer Institute now cites as a gold standard for risk reduction.
- Developed a new class of pain relievers without toxicity to the liver or kidneys
- Uncovered genes involved in deafness in various ethnic groups as well as for Friedreich Ataxia and Usher Syndrome
- Discovered the first retrovirus proteases in mammals and contributed to the development of the first HIV protease inhibitors
- Detected early predictors of the metabolic syndrome in healthy 7-9 year-olds
- Showed that a component of fish oil given up to 5 hours after a stroke can limit brain damage
- Showed that a component of fish oil given up to 5 hours after a stroke can limit brain damage
- Performed a landmark study proving that atherosclerosis begins in childhood
- Conducted a landmark study showing that second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer, leading the EPA to registering second-hand smoke as a Class A carcinogen
- First institution to link smoking to hardening of the arteries, a primary cause of heart disease
- Discovered the link between the treatable helicobacter pylori bacteria and stomach cancer
Achievements
The LSUHSC Viruses and Cancer Group received coveted admission to the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) funded by the National Cancer Institute. This consortium develops state-of-the-art cancer treatment and makes it available for patients with diagnoses that require special care such as HIV-AIDS and various cancers. The LSUHSC Viruses and Cancer Group is the only member of the AMC in the South.
Patents
LSUHSC Cancer Center researchers have successfully submitted two significant patents. Both of these patents have been favorably evaluated for funding at the National Institutes of Health.
Controlling Virus Growth
The first is aimed at controlling the growth of viruses with a newly discovered natural enzyme. This discovery could be utilized to prevent and treat various infections including new forms of influenza and cancer.
Mouse Model of Testing
The second patent is the development of a mouse that contains the human immune system which allows investigators to test new forms of immune therapies for cancer and other diseases.
Research Team
Dr. John Stewart IV is the founding director of the Louisiana State University-Louisiana Children’s Medical Center Cancer Center. He also holds the rank of professor of surgery at the Louisiana State University New Orleans School of Medicine. Under his leadership, Dr. Stewart sets the overall mission, vision and direction for multidisciplinary cancer care and cancer clinical research programs for LSU Health New Orleans and LCMC Health. Before he arrived at LSU, Dr. Stewart served as the deputy director for the University of Illinois Cancer Center and physician executive for oncology services for the University of Illinois Health System. He was also a member of the initial class of Presidential Scholars for the University of Illinois. Dr. Stewart’s previous leadership roles include serving as the chief of surgery at the Durham VAMC, vice-chair in the Wake Forest School of Medicine Department of Surgery, and associate dean for clinical research and innovation at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Stewart received his medical degree from Howard University and completed his general surgery residency at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He completed fellowships in surgical oncology, tumor immunology, and molecular oncology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Stewart has established a national profile in education, scientific research, and cancer care delivery to underserved populations. His clinical interests are in general surgical oncology, focusing on melanoma, tumor immunotherapy, and peritoneal surface malignancies. Dr. Stewart serves as a director for the American Board of Surgery, the chair of the American College of Surgeons Advisory Council for General Surgery, and a member of the Halsted Society Board of Directors. Best Doctors, Top Doctors, and Top Surgeons have recognized Dr. Stewart for his patient care achievements. In addition, the National Cancer Institute, Amgen, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have funded his research efforts. He has published over 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, including Cancer, Annals of Surgery, JAMA Surgery, the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Journal of Immunotherapy, Annals of Surgical Oncology, the Journal of Surgical Research, Transplantation, Surgery, and Cancer Gene Therapy.
Dr. Augusto Ochoa served as Head of the Immunotherapy Laboratory for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 1989 to 1996 and Head of the NCI Signal Transduction Laboratory from 1996 to 1997. where heHe designed and led several clinical trials using the patient’s own immune system to treat cancer. At LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Dr. Ochoa started founded and now leads directs the cancer immunology program. A professor of Pediatrics and an adjunct associate professor of Biochemistry, Dr. Ochoa is also a practicing physician, specializing in the field of Allergy/Immunology. His research interests include T-cell function, cytokine production, macrophage T-cell interaction, immune regulation, immune dysfunction and disease, as well as tumor immunology. He was named to the Al Copeland/Cancer Crusaders Chair in Neuroendocrine Cancer in September of 2013. Since then, Dr. Ochoa was selected as one of ten recipients nationally of the 2013 National Institutes of Health Transformative Research Award. Awarded by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins presented, the award of comes with a $2.5 million grant to LSUHSC over five years to LSUHSC. The grant to supports the development of new treatments for severe viral diseases, including herpes infections, pandemic influenza, and cancers caused viruses, by manipulating how the immune system responds to severe viral and inflammatory infections.
Dr. Michael Hagensee helped develop the virus-like particles that are the basis of the current human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccines. He also conducted clinical trials on the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines which led to their approval by the FDA. These vaccines have already been shown to cut the number of cervical cancers in women by more than half. HPV vaccines are now also being considered to prevent head and neck cancers. Dr. Hagensee continues to study the structure of human papillomaviruses, HPV detection, and immune response against HPV. He is board-certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases.
Dr. Krzysztof Reiss studies a range of neurological cancers, from childhood brain tumors to Merkel Cell Carcinoma, a rare and very aggressive cancer in which neuroendocrine tumor cells develop on or just beneath the skin or in hair follicles. His group is working to increase our understanding of how viruses, particularly the Merkel Cell virus, damage the DNA of cells and cause cancer. By promoting active collaborations between basic researchers and clinicians, his program emphasizes translational research. This analysis method of research aims to decrease the time required for a scientific discovery made in a laboratory to reach and positively affect the lives of cancer patients.
Dr. Luis Del Valle collaborates with Dr. Reiss researching Merkel Cell Polyomavirus and another polyomavirus, JCV. Dr. Del Valle’s research is focused on discovering how these viruses cause cancer, the DNA damage that precedes it, as well as repair mechanisms. As a neuropathologist, Dr. Del Valle concentrates on diseases affecting the brain including brain cancers and a progressive brain disease called PML caused by JCV.
Dr. Jennifer Cameron continues her interest in unraveling the mechanisms by which DNA tumor viruses such as HPV and EBV interact with the host and promote cancer. Her ultimate goal is to translate her findings into improved diagnostic and prognostic cancer screening tests, cancer prevention, and cancer treatment. Research projects include the evaluation of miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for cervical pre-cancer lesions, and determining the molecular targets of human cellular miRNA-146, an important mediator of immune responses and cancer progression. MicroRNAs, or MiRNAs, are a new class of small RNA molecules that play an important regulatory role in cell biology. They prevent the production of a particular protein by binding to and destroying the messenger RNA that would have produced the protein.