Chancellor's Notes

March 31, 2006

I have just returned from a successful trip to Washington DC., meeting with US Representatives Jim McCrery, Bobby Jindal, Bill Jefferson, Richard Baker, Charles Boustany, Rodney Alexander, and Charlie Melancon, as well as Senators David Vitter and Mary Landrieu. In addition to thanking them for their tremendous support of the Health Sciences Center through the Social Services Block Grant, I also took the opportunity to make them aware of our interest in receiving an additional $60 million to provide incentive bonuses, replace equipment and increase our levels of staffing as we return to New Orleans and start rebuilding our workforce.

On the research front, Dr. Wayne Backes reports the following:

The research programs of the Health Sciences Center are finally proceeding toward recovery. Many faculty and staff have returned to the three opened research buildings on the downtown campus the Medical Education Building, the Clinical Sciences Research Building, and the Lions Eye Center. Although many of the building facilities are not yet fully functional, repairs are continually being made. A schedule for return of these facilities can be found at: http://www.lsuhsc.edu/no/campus/Expected_Dates_for_Operation_of_Mechanical_Systems.pdf. Other information related to the facilities (e.g. parking and telephone service) can be found in the March 6th installment of the daily updates of the LSUHSC website.

The animal care facility is now operational on the 2nd floor of the CSRB. If you need to order animals, you will need to get approval from Dr. Gonzales prior to placing the order. There are functional autoclaves on the second floor of the CSRB. In the event that you need to use an autoclave, please call Ms. Cathy Campi at 568-6090 or 568-4198 for reservations. The IACUC will have regularly scheduled meetings beginning in March.

Research items can be purchased through Stores which is located on the 2nd floor of the Residence Hall at 1900 Perdido St. In the event that you will be ordering something directly from a vendor, the 1900 Perdido St. address can be used. Personnel from Stores will notify you once an item is received.

In addition to its Pennington office in Baton Rouge, the Office of Research Services has opened a temporary office on the 3rd floor of the CSRB (room 339). This office can be used to route grant, IRB and IACUC applications. The Office of Research Services will return to its regular location in the Resource Center once it is officially opened.

There has been an increase in research grant activity post-Katrina. The Office of Research Services has reported that over 60 new grants and competing renewals have been submitted to NIH since Katrina, in addition to supplements and other requests. Of these submissions, LSUHSC-NO has received over $4M in new NIH awards. Last fiscal year, FY05, LSUHSC-NO received $62M in research funding, during the first six months of the current fiscal year the institution has already received over $48 million in research support.

Dr. Jimmy Cairo chaired the first Disaster Planning Committee meeting yesterday and made subcommittee assignments. The goal is to have planning completed for the upcoming hurricane season no later than May 15, 2006. Ill keep you updated on this important effort.

And finally, dont forget the Camp Tiger Wine and Cheese Party tonight from 7:00 10:00 p.m. at the Shaw Center for the Arts (100 Lafayette St) and Tiger Run this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on the Parade Grounds on the LSU campus.