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SMART Program Welcomes Largest Class To Date

Fourteen students from Caddo and Bossier Parish schools are part of this year’s Bobbie Cates Hicks Science and Medicine Academic Research Training (SMART) program. The students will work alongside investigators at LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) on various research studies. The 2024-2025 class is the largest the program has served.

BRF launched the SMART program in 1997 to provide a yearlong research experience for academically advanced high school seniors from Caddo, Bossier, and DeSoto parishes. SMART students must have a career interest in medicine, biomedical research, or biomedical engineering.

From left to right, back row to front row: Aaron Brister, Mykenze Newell, Claire Kevil, Aashni Shah , Garrett Stroud, Kyung Hyun Cho, Andrew Sarvis, Parker Townsend, Georgia Price, Alexa Yurochko, Arisha “Rishi” Sultana, Emilija Majstorovic, Josephine Comerford, Sndra Elabbas

Students in this year’s class are:

  • Aaron Brister from Caddo Parish Magnet High School
  • Kyung Hyun Cho from Caddo Parish Magnet High School
  • Josephine Comerford from C.E. Byrd High School
  • Sandra Elabbas from Caddo Parish Magnet High School
  • Claire Kevil from Benton High School
  • Emilija Majstorovic from C.E. Byrd High School
  • Mykenze Newell from Caddo Parish Magnet High School
  • Georgia Price from Airline High School
  • Andrew Sarvis from Parkway High School
  • Aashni Shah from Caddo Parish Magnet High School
  • Garrett Stroud from C.E. Byrd High School
  • Arisha Sultana from Caddo Parish Magnet High School
  • Parker Townsend from C.E. Byrd High School
  • Alexa Yurochko from Caddo Parish Magnet High School

This year’s LSUHS mentors are:

  • Mabruka Alfaidi, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology
  • Cory Coehoorn, Ph.D., Program Director of Rehabilitation Science Program, Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Family Medicine
  • Nirav Dhanesha, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology
  • Monica Cartelle Gestal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
  • Omar Franco Coronel, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Feist-Weiller Cancer Center Research
  • Norman R. Harris, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
  • Gopi Kolluru, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Research, Departments of Pathology, Molecular Physiology, and Cellular Biology and Anatomy
  • Christina Ledbetter, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Neurosurgery, Research Consultant in Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
  • A. Wayne Orr, Ph.D., Director and Professor, Division of Research, Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology, Director, Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences, Professor, Departments of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, and Molecular and Cellular Physiology
  • Xinggui Shen, Ph.D., Core Director, Analytical Redox Biology Sub Core, Center for Redox Biology and Cardiovascular Disease
  • Giovanni Solitro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery
  • Karen Stokes, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Assistant Director of Scientific Excellence for the Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences
  • Xiuping Yu, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Associate Professor in Department of Urology
  • Andrew D. Yurochko, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Immunology; Carroll Feist Chair of Viral Oncology; Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging Viral Threats; and PI of the NIH COBRE Center for Applied Immunology and Pathological Processes

Funding for the program comes from the generosity of donors, including the late Bobbie Cates Hicks, The Bruce J. Heim Foundation, The Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s Give for Good donors, The Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s William C. Woolf Fund, and The Magale Foundation.

The education of a future science and technology workforce is an important component of BRF’s mission to diversify and grow the region’s economy. SMART has served 263 students in the region.

SMART is a partnership among BRF; LSU Health Shreveport; and the Caddo, Bossier, and DeSoto Parish
School Boards.