NEW ORLEANS — Dr. David Guzick, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and former LSU Health Shreveport chancellor, has been named Senior Vice Chancellor for LSU Health New Orleans following the recent departure of Dr. Steve Nelson.
Nelson was replaced after nearly four successful decades at the institution, including service as interim chancellor beginning in 2021 and permanent appointment to the role in 2024. University leaders said the move reflects what they described as a strategic shift in direction.
“As our university moves into a new phase shaped by evolving goals, updated structures, and new leadership priorities, we have reached a point where a change in direction is appropriate,” LSU Chancellor James T. Dalton and LSU System President Wade Rousse wrote in a message to faculty and staff at the time.
They emphasized the decision was not performance-related, calling Nelson’s service “exemplary.”
Leadership Transition and Institutional Impact
Nelson joined the LSU Health New Orleans faculty in 1984 and rose to serve as Professor of Medicine and the John H. Seabury Professor of Medicine. Over his tenure, he held multiple leadership roles, including Vice Chair of Research, Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine and President of the LSU Healthcare Network.
He helped lead efforts to secure National Cancer Institute designation for the LSU–LCMC Health Cancer Center and played a founding leadership role in the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center, a collaboration with Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Tulane supporting clinical and translational research across the region.
Nelson also oversaw LSU Health New Orleans’ most recent 10-year institutional reaccreditation review cycle, an 18-month process critical to maintaining institutional standing.
Guzick’s Background and Enterprise Role
Guzick now assumes leadership of the roughly 3,000-student academic health center after previously serving as chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport, where he guided LSU Health Shreveport through its own institutional reaccreditation process. He later was appointed Chief Research Officer for the LSU Enterprise, a systemwide role overseeing research strategy across LSU’s campuses.
A member of the National Academy of Medicine, Guzick brings decades of experience in academic medicine and health sciences administration. He is a Johns Hopkins–trained obstetrician-gynecologist specializing in reproductive endocrinology. During his tenure as dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Rochester, he secured an NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Research Award. Before coming to Louisiana, he served as Senior Vice President of Health Affairs at the University of Florida, President of UF Health and Chair of the Board of UF Health Shands Hospital.
Dalton said Guzick’s record aligns with LSU’s goal of becoming a Top 50 public research university and achieving eligibility for membership in the Association of American Universities.
The appointment places Guzick in a key leadership position as LSU continues centralizing research oversight under its Enterprise model which aligns research leadership across Louisiana State University, the LSU AgCenter, Pennington Biomedical Research Center and both LSU Health Sciences Centers.
