Shreveport, La. – On Thursday, April 10, LSU Health Shreveport held the 7th annual Research Celebration to highlight research accomplishments from the past year, as well as recognize outstanding achievements of its faculty with Research Excellence Awards.

The 2025 Research Excellence Award winners are listed below.

• Excellence in Extramural Funding – Matthew Woolard, PhD
• Excellence in Translational/Clinical Research – Connie Arnold, PhD
• Research Rising Star – Ana-Maria Dragoi, MD, PhD
• Excellence in Scholarly Activity –
  Honoring outstanding scholarly accomplishments with manuscripts recently accepted to be published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals:
  • Stanimir Ivanov, PhD (Nature Communications, 2024)
  • Rohit Jangra, PhD (Cell Host & Microbe, 2025)
  • Changwon Park, PhD (Nature Communications, 2025)
  • Arif Yurdagul, Jr., PhD (Nature Metabolism, 2024)
  • Oren Rom, PhD, RD (Cell Metabolism, 2024; Nature Metabolism, 2024)
• Career Service Recognition –
  • Nicholas Goeders, PhD, Professor and Chair of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience, was honored for 40 years of service and notable career accomplishments, including important contributions to advancing science and understanding of the role of stress in drug addiction.
  • Sushil Jain, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Physiology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology the 2024 Career Service Recognition recipient, was also honored at the event as he was unable to attend last year’s event for his 43 years of service at LSUHS and outstanding contributions to diabetes research.

Additional highlights shared include:

• Progress made on the new Cardiovascular & Cancer Research Building, a new state-of-the-art research facility that will be located in the former Sears building at Mall St. Vincent
• Nearly $3 million dollars in intramural grants awarded to LSUHS faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in FY24
• 14% annual growth in LSUHS extramural funding over the past decade
• New research core facilities and updates to current research facilities with new equipment
• 14 new faculty members recruited since July 2024 with substantial extramural funding – a total of 19 R01 and R00 grants from the National Institutes of Health – as well as 5 LSUHS postdoctoral fellows promoted to faculty members, bringing the total number of new research faculty members to 19, each of who will play an important role in shaping the future of research at LSUHS.

It was an inspiring event and the perfect opportunity to reflect on these accomplishments and look forward to what the future of research at LSU Health Shreveport holds as our institution remains committed to fostering a robust research environment, supporting faculty in achieving excellence, and translating discoveries into meaningful impact.