HJBR Nov/Dec 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  NOV / DEC 2025 35 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com physician-hospital integration, professional edu- cation, quality improvement, and patient safety. She most recently served as executive vice pres- ident and chief of clinical quality and education at SCP Health. Her career includes leadership positions at Baton Rouge General Medical Cen- ter and faculty appointments at LSU Health Sci- ences Center and Tulane School of Medicine. She has participated in medical education as a clinical assistant professor, clerkship director, residency education coordinator, and preceptor across mul- tiple training programs. She earned a medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreve- port and completed an emergency medicine res- idency at Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge. She also holds graduate degrees in edu- cation from Louisiana State University and an undergraduate degree from Northwestern State University. Diana Curras Martin, MD, Joins Lane Gastroenterology Gastroenterologist Diana Curras Martin, MD, has joined Lane Regional Medical Center, see- ing patients at Lane Gastroenterology in Zachary. Martin earned a medical degree from the Uni- versity Complutense of Madrid in Spain and com- pleted an internal medicine residency at Hacken- sack Meridian’s Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey. She went on to complete a gastroenterology fellowship at Loma Linda Uni- versity Medical Center in California. She is board-certified in both gastroenterology and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has participated in numer- ous research publications and case reports fea- tured in medical journals. NewCRISPRTest Identifies Tuberculosis Tulane University researchers have devel- oped an enhanced CRISPR-based tuberculosis test that works with a simple tongue swab that could allow easier, community-based screen- ings for the world’s deadliest infectious disease and could potentially transform testing in low- resource communities. Current TB tests rely on sputum, mucus col- lected from the lungs and lower respiratory system. While rich in the TB bacteria required for testing, collecting sputum is difficult, making it inefficient for large-scale community testing. Sputum testing is also unfeasible in about 25% of symptomatic cases and nearly 90% of asymp- tomatic cases, a gap which contributes to an esti- mated 4 million tuberculosis cases going undiag- nosed annually. A study published in Nature Communications showed the results of Tulane researchers refin- ing a previously developed CRISPR-based assay to better detect TB in samples with very low lev- els of bacteria, such as stool, spinal fluid, and tongue swabs. Clinical testing showed markedly enhanced detection of TB in tongue swabs over traditional testing (74% compared to 56%). The test also showed high sensitivity in detect- ing TB in respiratory (93%), pediatric stool (83%), and adult spinal fluid samples (93%). With chil- dren, HIV patients, and those with extrapulmo- nary TB unable to produce sputum, the research marks a significant step toward offering effective diagnoses via a variety of samples. The new CRISPR method, called the ActCRISPR- TB, increases amplification and detection of genetic signals from TB bacteria DNA and offers a rapid, streamlined approach that can return a diagnosis in under an hour. To administer the test without need for a lab or trained medical staff, researchers developed a “one pot” approach. Like a COVID-19 test, a swabbed sample is added to a tube pre-loaded with a test strip and reagent. That tube is incu- bated, and after 45 minutes, colored bands on the strip will indicate the presence of an infection. While more research and development is needed, clinical testing also showed the test to be faster and more accurate than traditional tests when testing for TB in sputum nucleic acid FDA Addresses Acetaminophen Controversy Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, commissioner of Food and Drugs at the FDA issued a message to physicians on September 22 about the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy. The let- ter reads: “In recent years, evidence has accumulated suggesting that the use of acetaminophen by pregnant women may be associated with an increased risk of neurological conditions such as autism and ADHD in children. Some studies have described that the risk may be most pro- nounced when acetaminophen is taken chroni- cally throughout pregnancy to childbirth. These concerns may be magnified by the fact that a very young child’s liver may still be developing and thus a child’s ability to metabolize the drug may be limited. “To be clear, while an association between acet- aminophen and autism has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature. The association is an ongoing area of scientific debate and clinicians should be aware of the issue in their clinical decision-mak- ing, especially given that most short-term fevers in pregnant women and young children do not require medication. “In the spirit of patient safety and prudent med- icine, clinicians should consider minimizing the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy for rou- tine low-grade fevers. This consideration should also be balanced with the fact that acetamino- phen is the safest over-the-counter alternative in pregnancy among all analgesics and antipyret- ics; aspirin and ibuprofen have well-documented adverse impacts on the fetus.” CIS Recognized for Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Management The Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) has received two gold awards from the American Heart Association for its commitment to reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke through cho- lesterol and blood pressure management. For the seventh year in a row, as part of the Tar- get: BP initiative, CIS has earned Gold Plus rec- ognition for the accuracy of blood pressure man- agement, with controlled blood pressure in more than 85% of hypertensive adult patients, surpass- ing the target of 70%. In addition, for the fourth year in a row, CIS received the Check. Change. Control. Choles- terol Gold Award. This recognition honors CIS for improving quality care through the awareness, detection, and management of high cholesterol by empowering patients with evidence-based strategies and tools. n