December Commencement Featured Noted Researcher

Posted on Dec. 13, 2005

Etta Pisano, director of UNC’s Biomedical Research Imaging Center, spoke Sunday as the Commencement speaker for December 2005 graduates. The ceremony was held at the Dean E. Smith Center at 2 p.m.

Pisano, who also is Kenan professor of radiology and biomedical engineering, was principal investigator in a four-year, digital mammography research study that showed that new digital mammography allows doctors to detect between 15 and 28 percent more cancers in women under 50. The new technology, which was introduced in 2001, provides doctors with more flexibility in viewing mammograms.

Pisano, who graduated from Duke University’s School of Medicine in 1983, has worked at UNC since 1989 when she started as chief of breast imaging and assistant professor of radiology. She is chair of the Status of Women Committee, which addresses the concerns and status of women on the faculty at UNC. She was featured in the January/February 1998 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review, available online to Carolina Alumni members.

More information about December Commencement is available at www.unc.edu/commencement.

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