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LSU Health Shreveport has reached a major milestone with two NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Awards, the first at our institution, both earned by Postdoctoral Fellows in the Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology. Dr. Nilesh Pandey, a fellow working with Dr. Nirav Dhanesha, received an NHLBI K99 for his work on “Novel Mechanisms for Lung Cancer Associated Thrombosis,” becoming the first LSU Health Shreveport postdoctoral fellow to earn this award. A few weeks later, Dr. Cyrine Ben Dhaou, a fellow working with Dr. Wayne Orr, received the institution’s second NHLBI K99 award for her work on “Uncovering New Mechanisms Linking ER Stress, Lipid Accumulation and Vascular Inflammation in Atherosclerosis.”  Together, these awards highlight the Department’s growing strength in developing the next generation of independent cardiovascular investigators.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. XIANGQIN HE
Xiangqin He, PhD, was awarded a three-year R00 grant from the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute totaling $744,942 for the project titled “The Uncharacterized Nuclear Protein HMGXB4 in Occlusive Vascular Diseases.” in February, 2026.

PRESENTATION: DR. AMR SALEM
Amr Salem, DVM, PhD was selected to give an oral presentation at the ATVB Conference in Baltimore in April 2025.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. SUMIT ROHILLA
Sumati Rohilla, PhD received the First Place Poster Award at the 7th Annual Gulf Coast Vascular Research Consortium (GVRC), Shreveport, LA, USA in April 2026.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: KORAL RICHARD
Koral Richard, T-32 Graduate Student, received the Travel Grant for Early Career Investigators for the 2026 Vascular Discovery - ATVB conference in March 2026. 

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. SANDEEP DAS
Sandeep Das, PhD received the Travel Grant for Early Career Investigators for the 2026 Vascular Discovery - ATVB conference in March 2026.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: KORAL RICHARD
Koral Richard, T-32 Graduate Student, received the First Place Poster Award at the 2026 CCDS-MLDRP conference in February 2026. 

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. SUMIT ROHILLA
Sumit Rohilla, PhD received the Second Place Poster Award at the 2026 CCDS-MLDRP conference in February 2026. 

PUBLICATION: DR. OREN ROM
Dr. Oren Rom's lab had a paper titled "Targeting Oxalate Production by Combining Enzyme Inhibition and Proteolysis Activation: A Novel Therapeutic Approach for Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1" published in J Med Chem in January 2026.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. CYRINE BEN DHAOU
Cyrine Ben Dhaou in Dr. Orr's lab was honored with the American Heart Association (AHA) Fellowship Award in December 2025.

PROMOTION: DR. MATTHEW SCOTT
Matthew Scott in Dr. Orr's lab received the Malcom Feist Postdoctoral Transition Award from the CCDS and was promoted to Instructor in July 2025.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. A. WAYNE ORR
A. Wayne Orr, PhD, received a $300,000 Transformational Pathway Award from the American Heart Association in July 2025 for his work on “Integrin-dependent endothelial priming in atherosclerosis”.

APPOINTMENT: DR. A. WAYNE ORR
A. Wayne Orr, PhD, was elected to serve as President of the North American Vascular Biology Organization starting in July 2025

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. HARPREET KAUR
Harpreet Kaur, PhD in Dr. Dhanesha's lab was awarded the 2025 CCDS Malcolm Feist Post-doctoral Fellowship! 

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. HARPREET KAUR
Harpreet Kaur, PhD in Dr. Dhanesha's lab received Third Prize in 2025 BRAID Conference poster presentation.

PRESENTATION: NIRVANA SHAABAN
Nirvana Shaaban in Dr. Dhanesha's lab was selected for an oral talk entitled “The Receptor Tyrosine Kinase EphA2 Promotes Thrombogenesis and Impairs Thrombus Resolution in DVT” at the 67th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, Orlando, FL, 2025.

PRESENTATION: DR. NIRAV DHANESHA
Dr Nirav Dhanesha was selected for an oral talk entitled “Discovery and Preclinical Characterization of SB-01, a Novel Allosteric Inhibitor of Human Factor XIa” at the 67th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, Orlando, FL.

GRANTS AND AWARDS: DR. HARPREET KAUR
Dr. Harpreet Kaur, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Dr. Nirav Dhanesha's lab received a Junior Investigator Award from StrokeAHA_ASA and will present her data in #ISC2024. Congratulations, Dr. Kaur!