LSU Health New Orleans is more than a medical school; it’s a vast academic and research enterprise and a leading partner in Louisiana’s growing biomedical innovation network.
The institution operates a network of major research and clinical centers — including the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, located in downtown New Orleans at 1700 Tulane Avenue, and the Comprehensive Alcohol–HIV/AIDS Research Center (CARC), based at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans — and maintains deep partnerships with hospitals like University Medical Center New Orleans.
Together, these projects reflect a broader shift in LSU Health New Orleans’ research enterprise toward technology-driven medicine.
By integrating artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and data-privacy tools into traditional biomedical research, the institution is positioning itself at the forefront of a growing national effort to modernize healthcare innovation and expand Louisiana’s role in the life-sciences economy.
Tiny Biological “Motors”
On October 1, 2025, the National Science Foundation awarded one of the largest grants in LSU Health New Orleans’ history to genetics professor Dr. Sunyoung Kim and her research team at the School of Medicine, supporting work in adaptive nanomotor development, a field with the potential to transform treatment strategies for cancer and neurological disorders.
The five-year interdisciplinary award explores the molecular machinery that powers cells, uncovering how tiny biological “motors” can be adapted for new biomedical applications. By understanding how these mechanisms operate, physicians could better predict which patients are most likely to respond to advanced treatments.
“My team and I are extremely humbled to be the recipients of one of the largest grants in the history of LSU Health New Orleans,” said Kim. “This research is a crucial step to enable innovations in basic science, cancer and neurological conditions. With this level of support, we can build regional economic opportunities from the ground up.”
Beyond the lab, the NSF grant also invests in people. It supports the training of junior faculty to move discoveries from research to commercialization, bridging the gap between innovation and impact. The NSF award promises to strengthen both the region’s biomedical workforce and its growing biotech ecosystem.
AI, Medicine and Cybersecurity
What does cybersecurity have to do with tracheostomy tubes? For a group of researchers in Louisiana: a lot. Dr. Michael Dunham, a professor of otolaryngology at LSU Health New Orleans, heads a national research project that combines his expertise in computer science with his background as a pediatric surgeon.
Otolaryngology, commonly referred to as “ENT,” addresses conditions of the ear, nose and throat, along with the head and neck systems that help people hear, breathe and swallow. Dunham’s pediatric patients with narrow or weak airways may require tracheostomy tubes to allow them to breathe. If a tube becomes dislodged or obstructed, however, it can lead to brain injury or death.
“This research is a crucial step to enable innovations in basic science, cancer and neurological conditions. With this level of support, we can build regional economic opportunities from the ground up.”
– Dr. Sunyoung Kim, genetics professor, LSU Health New Orleans
To address this risk, Dunham developed the Eyes-On Decannulation Detector (E-O-DD) in 2025, an AI-assisted, patented technology that detects tracheostomy-tube dislodgement before complications can occur.
While developing Eyes-On this year, Dunham faced a challenge: obtaining enough medical data to train the technology while preserving patient privacy. To meet that challenge, Dunham and a team of computer scientists, mathematicians and machine-learning specialists at Kansas State University and Louisiana State University are collaborating to create methods that allow hospitals to analyze medical video data in real time without exposing patient identities.
Beginning Oct. 1 and running for three years, the project is funded by a $1.2 million collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation. The initiative, titled “Collaborative Research: SaTC 2.0: RES: A Privacy-Preserving Framework for Sharing and Learning from Scarce Medical Data,” aims to improve how sensitive medical video information is shared and analyzed across institutions.
Not only will this project provide peace of mind for families with tracheostomy-dependent infants, Dunham noted, but it will also have implications for other vulnerable populations, including individuals in nursing homes and those in rural areas with limited access to healthcare. Ultimately, it could help research teams and patients alike and open the door to future medical innovations.
Dunham presented his Eyes-On technology at BIO on the BAYOU, held Oct. 28-29, 2025, in New Orleans. The regional bioscience showcase brought together researchers, investors and emerging startups from across the Gulf South, strengthening connections within the region’s expanding biomedical corridor. New Orleans native Walter Isaacson, the best-selling biographer and former head of both CNN and the Aspen Institute, delivered the closing remarks, underscoring the South’s growing influence as a national hub for biotechnology and translational research.
Dunham said the conference provided an invaluable opportunity to network with potential partners and clinical collaborators while refining a strategy to bring Eyes-On to scale. Backed by new industry relationships and interest from home-health agencies, hospitals and care facilities, he aims to make the device broadly accessible to caregivers and patients in real-world settings.
Advancing Care for Patients with HIV and Alcohol-Related Conditions
At the same time, Dr. Patricia Molina, senior associate dean for research in LSU Health New Orleans’ School of Medicine, received a $7.2 million grant on October 1 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue her decades of work through the Comprehensive Alcohol–HIV/AIDS Research Center (CARC). Continuously funded since its founding in 1991, the center investigates how alcohol use affects patients living with HIV/AIDS, particularly as they age and develop related health complications.
Molina’s latest NIH-supported project builds on that legacy, examining how alcohol disrupts energy metabolism across the body’s immune, metabolic and nervous systems. Her team aims to pinpoint interventions that can restore balance to those systems, improving health outcomes and guiding emerging treatment strategies.
“This grant will help us achieve our goal of improving care for people living with HIV/AIDS and expanding scientific understanding of how chronic alcohol use affects aging and resilience,” said Molina.
Her team seeks to improve care for people living with HIV by linking clinical observation with laboratory insight. The research extends LSU Health’s long-standing leadership in studying the intersection of substance use and infectious disease, while applying new tools of molecular science to understand how alcohol accelerates or compounds illness.
Kelly Hite is the associate news editor for Biz New Orleans, responsible for delivering daily business news on BizNewOrleans.com, focusing on developments that impact the greater New Orleans area and southeast Louisiana. She may be reached via email at KellyH@BizNewOrleans.com.
