HLS 19RS-1011 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 27
BY REPRESENTATIVE MCFARLAND
COMMENDATIONS: Commends Dr. A. Wayne Orr for his many accomplishments in
medical research and funding
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To commend Dr. A. Wayne Orr for his extraordinary impact on combating cardiovascular
3 disease, procuring research funding, and training researchers.
4 WHEREAS, Dr. A. Wayne Orr is the director of the Center of Excellence for
5Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health
6Shreveport; and
7 WHEREAS, the faculty at LSU Health Shreveport works to mitigate Louisiana's
8biggest health problems, and Dr. Orr has earned acknowledgment for his tireless and
9successful pursuit of significant competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health to
10address cardiovascular disease; and
11 WHEREAS, Dr. Orr is the principal investigator for three R01 grants funded by the
12National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and
13Digestive and Kidney Disease totaling more than $4.5 million; and
14 WHEREAS, Dr. Orr is the first faculty member at LSU Health Shreveport to have
15three concurrent R01 grants; the R01 grant is the original and historically oldest grant
16mechanism utilized by the National Institutes of Health; and
17 WHEREAS, over the past twenty-one years, Dr. Orr's research has sought to
18understand how the local microenvironment affects vascular cell signaling in pathological
19processes such as atherosclerosis, angiogenesis, and ischemia-reperfusion injury; his
20laboratory has published more than fifty manuscripts on vascular cell biology, and numerous
21papers on redox biology and its related pathologies; and
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HCR NO. 27
1 WHEREAS, Dr. Orr's research has identified a critical role for the extracellular
2matrix in the regulation of endothelial cell function, characterizing novel signaling
3mechanisms and identifying specific receptors involved in this response; and
4 WHEREAS, Dr. Orr is actively involved with the American Heart Association; he
5is a national reviewer for the Cell Biology 3 study section and the Collaborative Science
6Awards; he is an educator for the north Louisiana American Heart Association board of
7directors and he is a mentor for recipients of the American Heart Association pre-doctoral
8fellowship; and
9 WHEREAS, Dr. Orr has generously given of his time and knowledge to mentor more
10than fifty medical and basic science students and post-degree trainees, many of whom are
11on course for successful careers; and
12 WHEREAS, Dr. Orr is a professor in the Department of Pathology and Translational
13Pathobiology, the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and the Department
14of Cellular Biology and Anatomy; he is director of the Division of Research in the
15Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology; and
16 WHEREAS, the work Dr. Orr does at LSU Health Shreveport complements his
17involvement in the North American Vascular Biology Association, the American Heart
18Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Society of Cell Biology;
19he is a charter member of the National Institutes of Health Vascular Cell and Molecular
20Biology Study Section and serves on the editorial board of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and
21Vascular Biology; Dr. Orr also provides reviews for more than thirty professional journals;
22and
23 WHEREAS, the research acumen of Dr. A. Wayne Orr, his ability to procure
24research funding, and the training he provides to medical students and researchers is
25invaluable to the successes LSU Health Shreveport has achieved in mitigating the effects of
26cardiovascular disease on the citizens of the state, the nation, and the world.
27 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
28commend Dr. A. Wayne Orr for his remarkable intellect and dedication in finding treatments
29for diseases that impact our citizens and does hereby recognize his efforts in enhancing the
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1economy of north Louisiana through the procurement of significant extramural grant
2funding.
3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this resolution be transmitted
4to Dr. A. Wayne Orr.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 27 Original 2019 Regular Session McFarland
Commends Dr. A. Wayne Orr for his many accomplishments in medical research.
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