Document Actions
Women doctors fete UNC's Etta Pisano for her contributions to medical science
CHAPEL HILL -- The American Medical Women's Association honored a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill medical scientist and clinician over the weekend (Jan. 28) for her contributions toward saving lives by detecting breast cancer earlier.
Feb. 2, 2005
Women doctors fete UNC’s Etta Pisano for her contributions to medical science
CHAPEL HILL— The American Medical Women’s Association honored a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill medical scientist and clinician over the weekend (Jan. 28) for her contributions toward saving lives by detecting breast cancer earlier.
Dr. Etta Pisano is professor of radiology at the UNC School of Medicine, chief of breast imaging at UNC Hospitals and co-leader of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s breast program. She received the group’s annual Women in Science award.
According to the citation, the honor is “presented to a woman physician who has made exceptional contributions to medical science, especially in women's health, through her basic and/or clinical research, her publications and leadership in her field.”
Nominated by her medical students, Pisano was recognized for work throughout her career in improving breast cancer diagnosis and her teaching. Her husband, three of her four children and two of her sisters attended the Washington, D.C., ceremony.
A 1983 Duke medical graduate, the UNC physician currently leads a multi-center study involving some 49,500 women in the United States and Canada. The investigation is comparing the value of traditional film mammography vs. the newer digital mammography in detecting breast cancer.
“Standard mammography has been the most studied screening technology over the past 40 years, and so we know more about it than almost any other diagnostic technique in medicine,” Pisano said.
“What we have is a well-proven technology and one that is in its infancy and not as well studied yet so we have to be very careful,” she said. “Before it is widely used, we want to make sure that digital mammography is at least as good as standard mammography at finding early breast cancers.”
Digital mammography may reveal cancers in women with dense breast tissue better because of its improved contrast resolution, the physician said. Smaller, previous studies also suggested it could reduce the number of women called back to check suspicious lesions.
Results of the $26.3 million clinical trial are expected to be released this spring.
Pisano also is the popular mentor of UNC’s American Medical Women’s Association chapter. Medical students have said she inspires them for numerous reasons, including her ability to balance her clinical career, her research and her family life.
Pisano said teaching medical students is one of her greatest pleasures.
“Projects our students undertake on their own time, such as teaching health to women prisoners, are good examples of how students from the UNC School of Medicine serve the state as part of Carolina's public service mission,” she said. “They also are fine examples of how Carolina trains physicians interested in improving the public's health, not just in treating disease. I am very proud of our students. They really are terrific people with a huge commitment to becoming good doctors.”
Note: Pisano is available at (919) 966-6957, but she can respond to e-mail faster, etpisano@med.unc.edu
News Services contact: David Williamson, 962-8596
Women doctors fete UNC’s Etta Pisano for her contributions to medical science
By DAVID WILLIAMSON
UNC News Services
UNC News Services
CHAPEL HILL— The American Medical Women’s Association honored a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill medical scientist and clinician over the weekend (Jan. 28) for her contributions toward saving lives by detecting breast cancer earlier.
Dr. Etta Pisano is professor of radiology at the UNC School of Medicine, chief of breast imaging at UNC Hospitals and co-leader of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s breast program. She received the group’s annual Women in Science award.
According to the citation, the honor is “presented to a woman physician who has made exceptional contributions to medical science, especially in women's health, through her basic and/or clinical research, her publications and leadership in her field.”
Nominated by her medical students, Pisano was recognized for work throughout her career in improving breast cancer diagnosis and her teaching. Her husband, three of her four children and two of her sisters attended the Washington, D.C., ceremony.
A 1983 Duke medical graduate, the UNC physician currently leads a multi-center study involving some 49,500 women in the United States and Canada. The investigation is comparing the value of traditional film mammography vs. the newer digital mammography in detecting breast cancer.
“Standard mammography has been the most studied screening technology over the past 40 years, and so we know more about it than almost any other diagnostic technique in medicine,” Pisano said.
“What we have is a well-proven technology and one that is in its infancy and not as well studied yet so we have to be very careful,” she said. “Before it is widely used, we want to make sure that digital mammography is at least as good as standard mammography at finding early breast cancers.”
Digital mammography may reveal cancers in women with dense breast tissue better because of its improved contrast resolution, the physician said. Smaller, previous studies also suggested it could reduce the number of women called back to check suspicious lesions.
Results of the $26.3 million clinical trial are expected to be released this spring.
Pisano also is the popular mentor of UNC’s American Medical Women’s Association chapter. Medical students have said she inspires them for numerous reasons, including her ability to balance her clinical career, her research and her family life.
Pisano said teaching medical students is one of her greatest pleasures.
“Projects our students undertake on their own time, such as teaching health to women prisoners, are good examples of how students from the UNC School of Medicine serve the state as part of Carolina's public service mission,” she said. “They also are fine examples of how Carolina trains physicians interested in improving the public's health, not just in treating disease. I am very proud of our students. They really are terrific people with a huge commitment to becoming good doctors.”
Note: Pisano is available at (919) 966-6957, but she can respond to e-mail faster, etpisano@med.unc.edu
News Services contact: David Williamson, 962-8596