Because the promises of tomorrow can't wait, the dedicated faculty of LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans teach the healers of tomorrow and conduct research whose sole purpose is to deliver on those promises. With an impact felt the world over, noteworthy research and breakthroughs include:

 

• Landmark study showed that second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked. These findings led the EPA to designate second-hand smoke as a Class A carcinogen.

• First to link cigarette smoking to hardening of the arteries - the major cause of America's number one killer, heart disease.

• Discovered "Longevity Assurance Genes" which play a role in determining life span.

• Developed a new class of pain relievers without toxicity to the liver or kidneys.

• First successful treatment for chronic traumatic brain injury using hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

• Developed the solutions to store corneas, leading to the establishment of eye banks.

• Discovered that alcohol consumption not only increases viral load in SIV (animal model of HIV), it decreases survival by more than 50%.

• Discovered genes involved in deafness.

• Discovered how fish oil protects against Alzheimer's disease.

• Advanced the success of dental implants and dental biomaterials.

• Discovered how HIV, the viruses for Ebola and SARS invade cells and replicate.

• Discovered the link between a treatable bacteria and stomach cancer.

• Developed a vaccination method that improves existing immunization for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

• Developed a clinical confocal microscope, which revolutionized the diagnosis of eye diseases by allowing for the first time rapid non-invasive diagnosis of infections.

• Developed a technique to place dental cement in tiny crevices for the first time, making it possible to save teeth that would have been lost otherwise.

• Developed a blood test that is a marker for both breast and ovarian cancer.

• Collaborated on the development of forensic dental software that allows rapid identification of victims of mass disasters - used for the first time after Hurricane Katrina.

• Developed one of the world's most successful long-term pediatric weight management programs. 

• Developed a new compound, Neuroprotectin D1 that shows early promise as one of the most powerful neuroprotective agents known.

• Discovered the first retrovirus protease in mammals, paving the way for the first protease inhibitors for HIV.

• Landmark study showed that changes in the arteries leading to heart disease begin in childhood and smoking accelerates the process.

• First to successfully micro-surgically reattach an eyelid and its blood vessels.

• Developed the first line of adult heart muscle cells that can be grown continuously in culture, a process called immortalization. These unique cells called HL-1 are in worldwide demand for their unparalleled value in research for cardiac function and models of heart attacks as well as cancer.

• First to develop a muscle-sparing breast reconstruction technique using the patient's own fatty tissue.

• First to transplant fatty tissue from one identical twin to another in breast reconstruction.

• Developed the world's only commercially available human tissue-based angiogenesis test that uses three-dimensionally intact tissues to test the effectiveness of a drug.

• Developed a drug that prevents the overproduction of Cox-2, preventing damage and brain cell death in stroke, epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic head injury.

• Developed the Onplant - an orthodontic device that replaces headgear.

• Developed the Otoacoustic Emissions Test, which distinguishes the true cause of hearing loss, important to successful treatment. 

• Discovered a gene that increases the risk of early onset lung cancer.

• Developed a test that detects a single circulating melanoma cell in the blood - an important tool to detect recurrence.

• Developed new cancer therapies that starve tumors by preventing the growth of nourishing blood vessels.

• Conducted first gene therapy clinical trial for lung cancer in L.A.

• Cured patients of epilepsy through a novel surgical approach.

• Showed that risk factors other than high cholesterol - smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes - are just as important in the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in young people as fats.

• Discovered that about 10% of children in schools for the deaf have a heretofore unrecognized form of deafness called auditory neuropathy not usually benefited by hearing aids, but unexpectedly helped by cochlear implants.