In the running: Nine people have applied to be the next chancellor of the Southern University Law Center, the university announced today. The applicants are: Joan R. Bullock, Preston Castille Jr., Monique M. Edwards, John Michael Guidry, Alexander Daniel Hamilton VI, Russell Jones, John K. Pierre, Jay Robinson and Roederick C. White Sr. Southern says in a news release that a 14-member search committee will evaluate the applicants and narrow the list to three semifinalists. The new chancellor will replace Freddie Pitcher Jr., who stepped town in June. Learn more about all nine applicants.
First things first: The NeuroMedical Center and neurologist/neuro-oncologist Dr. Jon Olson say in a news release that they are the first in the Baton Rouge area to offer the latest in brain tumor treatment and technology. Olson says he’s the first and only physician in the area certified to prescribe Optune, which was approved for treatment by the FDA in October. The drug is for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, also known as GBM, the most common and most aggressive cancer that originates in the brain. It affects an estimated 12,500 Americans each year. In clinical trials, 48% of patients treated with Optune lived at least two years after starting the therapy, according to the news release.
On the road: Louisiana’s new governor is in the nation’s capital for the state congressional delegation’s annual Washington Mardi Gras festivities. The Associated Press reports Gov. John Bel Edwards left Louisiana on Wednesday and is expected to return Sunday. The Democratic governor, sworn into office Jan. 11, was scheduled to meet today with federal health officials to discuss the governor’s plan to expand Louisiana’s Medicaid program to cover an additional 300,000 people or more. On Friday, he had a meeting planned with U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to talk about Louisiana’s requests for federal highway aid. Edwards also had a sit-down planned with much of Louisiana’s congressional delegation, though a visit with U.S. Sen. David Vitter—whom Edwards bested in the governor’s race—was noticeably absent from his agenda.
