The LA CaTS Center partnered with the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI) for the 2026 Southern Regional Meeting (SRM). The meeting was held at the InterContinental Hotel in New Orleans on February 26-28, 2026. The LA CaTS Center, Mississippi Center for Clinical & Translational Research (MCCTR) and the Louisville Clinical & Translational Research Center (LCTRC) hosted a joint scientific symposium titled “NextGen Clinical Research Minds: Shaping the Future of Medicine”. In addition, investigators from all three IDeA-CTRs presented their research at the SRM Poster Session in the IDeA Program - Clinical & Translational Research section.
A special thank you to Joan Kemp at SSCI, MCCTR, & LCTRC for their partnership in this southern regional meeting.
Below is a recap of the symposium speakers, posters and highlighted awardees for this year’s meeting:
Symposium Speakers
Moderated by: Marie “Tonette” Krousel-Wood, MD, MSPH, Tulane University School of Medicine
- David Welsh, MD, LSU Health New Orleans, “Supporting Clinician-Scientist Careers in a Changing Academic Landscape”
- Jon Klein, MD, PhD, University of Louisville, “Revitalizing Physician-Scientist Training: New Strategies For Recruitment and Retention”
- Richard Summers, MD, University of Mississippi, “Mentorship That Works: Structured Programs vs. Organic Development”
Selected Flash Talk Presenters
- Sydney Junot, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, “Physiological leptin replacement does not reverse metabolic adaptations to starvation in Sprague Dawley rats”
- Aubrey Smyly, MD, University of Mississippi Medical Center, “Renal Imaging Biomarkers Reflect Anthropometric and Hepatic Features in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease”
- Frederick Adams Ekuban, PhD, University of Louisville, “Environmental Forever Chemical Exposures Modify the Severity of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease”
Highlighted 2026 SRM Awardees from LA CaTS Center Investigators
- Crystal Zheng, Tulane University School of Medicine (previous Roadmap Scholar) - SSCI Tinsley Harrison Scholar Award
- Rebecca Solch-Ottaiano, Tulane University School of Medicine (current Roadmap Scholars) - SSCI Young Faculty Research Award
- Erin M. Peacock, PhD, MPH, Tulane University School of Medicine - SSCI Mentor of the Year Award
LA CaTS Poster Presenters
| Investigators | Institutions | Title |
| Patricia A. Baumgarten | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | CLINICAL PREDICTORS OF MUSCLE FUNCTION IN ADULTS WITH OBESITY |
| Jennifer Caldwell | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | LINKING GAINS: THE EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE OF GENETIC RISK ON HEALTH BEHAVIOR |
| San Chu | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | USING A NONAMER-BASED METHODS TO ESTIMATE EPIDEMIC CONTROL |
| Evangeline Deer | University of Mississippi Medical Center | METFORMIN IMPROVES HYPERTENSION AND IMPAIRED GLUCOSE INDUCED BY THE ADOPTIVE TRANSFER OF GDM PLACENTAL CD4+ T CELLS IN NORMAL PREGNANT RATS, BUT REDUCES BIOENERGETIC ACTIVITY IN HUVECS |
| David McDougal | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | EXPOSURE TO A 72-H FAST IMPAIRS THE COUNTERREGULATORY RESPONSE TO HYPOGLYCEMIA |
| Frederick A. Ekuban | University of Louisville | ENVIRONMENTAL FOREVER CHEMICAL EXPOSURES MODIFY THE SEVERITY OF ALCOHOL-ASSOCIATED LIVER DISEASE |
| Elizabeth C. Heintz | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | EXCEPTIONAL LONGEVITY WITH PRESERVED MUSCLE FUNCTION: A CASE REPORT OF A CENTENARIAN ENDURANCE ATHLETE |
| Van T. Hoang | Tulane University | FRA-1 AND MATRIX FACTORS DRIVE ERK5-DEPENDENT TUMOR FORMATION AND METASTASIS OF BREAST CANCER CELLS |
| Cora Ianiro | Ochsner Clinic Foundation | IDENTIFYING PREDICTORS OF COLORECTAL CANCER PROGRESSION AND PROGNOSIS ACROSS AFRICAN AMERICAN AND NON-HISPANIC WHITE PATIENTS |
| Sydney Junot | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | EFFECTS OF LEPTIN REPLACEMENT ON METABOLIC ADAPTATIONS TO STARVATION IN SPRAGUE DAWLEY RATS |
| Zhipin Liang | LSU Health New Orleans | NICLOSAMIDE DERIVATIVE COMPOUNDS ENHANCE IMMUNOTHERAPY BY MODULATING TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT IN TNBC |
| You Lu | Tulane University | COMORBID DEPRESSION AND DIABETES AND RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS – THE MEDIATING ROLE OF LIFE’S ESSENTIAL 8 |
| Lizheng Shi | Tulane University | CLINICIAN-FACING APPLICATION ON THE FAST HEALTHCARE INTEROPERABILITY RESOURCES (FHIR) STANDARDS TO SUPPORT PATIENT-CENTERED RECOMMENDATION FOR DIABETES CONTROL GOALS |
| Deborah Smith | LSU Health Shreveport | HPV VACCINE DISPARITIES AMONG BLACK AND HISPANIC WOMEN IN NORTHWEST LOUISIANA |
| Aubrey Smyly | University of Mississippi Medical Center | RENAL IMAGING BIOMARKERS REFLECT ANTHROPOMETRIC AND HEPATIC FEATURES IN METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION-ASSOCIATED STEATOTIC LIVER DISEASE |
| Rebecca Solch-Ottaiano | Tulane University | DIET AND FECAL MICROBIOTA TRANSPLANTATION MODULATES MEASUREMENTS OF CARDIOMETABOLIC HEALTH IN AGING ANIMALS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS |
| Analisa Taylor | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | MIRO1 NEGATIVELY REGULATES SKELETAL MUSCLE INSULIN ACTION IN MICE WITH DIET-INDUCED OBESITY AND HYPERGLYCEMIA |
| Dicle Yalcin | LSU Health New Orleans | DELINEATING THE IMMUNE LANDSCAPE OF KAPOSI SARCOMA USING HYPERPLEXED IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE AT SINGLE-CELL RESOLUTION |
| Elizabeth Zunica | Pennington Biomedical Research Center | IMMUNOMETABOLIC FUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH POST-ACUTE SEQUELAE OF SARS-COV-2 INFECTION: THE PROMIS STUDY |
What is the SSCI?
SSCI is a regional academic society dedicated to the advancement of medically-related research. Its major focus, however, is on encouraging students and post-graduate trainees (residents and fellows) to enter academic medicine and to support junior faculty success in clinical investigation.