HJBR May/Jun 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAY / JUN 2025 37 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com meetings that will take place at the Cancer Cen- ter over the coming years. Some of this technology includes: Elekta Versa HD: Mary Bird Perkins was among the first 10 facilities in the country to offer the technology, which enabled the Cancer Center to significantly reduce treatment times, increase the number of patients treated daily, and reduce the number of treatments. Elekta Harmony: In November 2024, Mary Bird Perkins became the first facility in the U.S. to treat patients with Elekta Harmony. Since then, the linear accelerator has enabled the Cancer Cen- ter to accommodate up to 10 more patients a day, reduce wait times, and maintain treatment precision. Elekta Unity: The cornerstone of Mary Bird Per- kins’ adaptive MRI-guided radiation therapy pro- gram, Elekta Unity combines the imaging capabil- ities of a high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system with a linear accelerator, allowing the radiotherapy care team to see tumors and surrounding anatomy before and in real-time during treatment. The technology has already allowed for more personalized care for more than 100 patients at the Cancer Center. DavidM. Bellar Named FranU’s Fifth President Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University’s Board of Trustees announced the appointment of David M. Bellar as the fifth president of the uni- versity, after a national search. He will assume his new role on July 14. Bellar joins FranU from the University of West Florida, where he serves as dean of the Usha Kundu, MD College of Health. During his ten- ure, he arranged a $6.68 million grant to enhance health education facilities, secured scholarship funding and gifts of space for immersive learn- ing experiences at two hospitals, aided in imple- menting strategies to improve NCLEX pass rates to 98% for the School of Nursing, created the first Staff Council on campus, helped secure a partner- ship with two major hospital systems to support clinical space for nursing programs, and devel- oped a virtual cadaver lab to enhance anatomy and physiology education. “Dr. Bellar is a great talent and will be an excep- tional servant-leader to the University. With his strategic vision and data-driven approach, he will lay the groundwork for our next 100 years,” stated Todd Schexnayder, FranU Board of Trustees chair. Under Bellar’s leadership, the board hopes for continued academic and program success, increased enrollment, academic achievement, and the full development of the University’s Mas- ter Plan. Bellar holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology from Kent State University, an MEd in Secondary Edu- cation from John Carroll University, and a Bache- lor of Science in Biology and Life Science Chem- istry from John Carroll University. LSUHealth NewOrleans’ Nicolas Bazan, MD, to Present at International Conference World-renowned neuroscientist and director of LSU Health New Orleans’ Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Nicolas Bazan, MD, and his team made an innovative discovery that can change the approach to treatment of critical brain injuries and illnesses including stroke, ALS, traumatic brain injuries (concussions), spinal cord injury, Alzheim- er’s, and Parkinson’s. By uncovering a neuropro- tective molecule produced by the brain, for which Bazan and his team coined the name elovanoids (ELVs), they are working to find ways to put those molecules to work in the brain to protect against brain injuries and neurodegenerative illnesses. Bazan was asked to present his findings at a dis- tinguished international conference this month in Rome, Italy: “Neurodegenerative Diseases: from molecular mechanisms to prospective therapies” sponsored by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lin- cei, by the Deutsche Zentrum für Neurodegen- erative Erkrankungen (DZNE) and by Springer Nature. The ELVs, discovered by Bazan and his research team, are derived from omega-3 fatty acids, which are known for the many health benefits they pro- vide, including lowering blood pressure and pre- venting heart disease and stroke. The work that Bazan will present in Rome shows that ELVs are cell-specific mediators necessary for the protec- tion of brain synaptic integrity. This discovery, and Bazan’s continued work in this space, will fill gaps in prevention and treatment of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. “Our ongoing quest in medicine is, in a way, reflected as a response to one major challenge to civilization: the growing incidence of demen- tia,” shared Bazan. “Although age is the main risk factor, not everyone develops dementia dur- ing aging.” The lecture will disclose studies using experimental traumatic brain injury (concussions) or stroke, which are conditions that in many instances lead to cognition deficits and even dementia. The design of the study included intranasal delivery of ELVs after those injuries and the subsequent identification of cell-specific gene expression as well as of encoded proteins. This was determined by analyzing 25,000 different cells from the cerebral cortex using AI machine learning algorithms. Traumatic brain injuries and stroke cause dys- functions related to calcium signaling, mitochon- drial function, cell-cell interactions, perturbations in cell-specific clusters and oxidative stress. ELVs alter these cell-specific impairments to promote neuroprotection after one of these incidents. David M. Bellar Nicolas Bazan, MD