The Department was pleased to welcome Assistant Professor Wei-Tang Chang, PhD, to UNC’s Image Analysis Group, housed at the Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC) in September 2020. In this role, Dr. Chang works on developing advanced MR imaging techniques for neuroscience studies, such as functional and diffusion MRI with high resolution, high speed and high quality. 
Dr. Chang obtained neuroimaging expertise earliest through his doctorate studies in Biomedical Engineering at National Taiwan University. He continued work during his post-doctoral years at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA). Dr. Chang relocated to the Singapore BioImaging Consortium (SBIC) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore in 2014 to work on animal imaging as a Senior Research Fellow. Returning to the U.S. in 2017, he joined the BRIC as a Senior Research Associate.
Dr. Chang noted: “My short-term research focus is to develop advanced technology for functional MRI and diffusion MRI that can achieve submillimeter isotropic resolution with whole-brain coverage in a reasonable time frame. My long-term interests include translating the advanced MR techniques into clinical applications, such as robust imaging against motion and fine-scale imaging for neurological disorder.”
The Department was pleased to welcome Assistant Professor Kristen Olinger, MD, to its Abdominal Imaging division in July 2020. Dr. Olinger is one of nine clinical faculty working under the direction of Division Chief Dr. Lauren Burke. Dr. Olinger completed medical school and her Diagnostic Radiology residency at the University of California – Los Angeles. During her time at UCLA, she discovered her passion for medical student/resident education and was honored to serve as one of several chief residents. Preceding her faculty appointment, she joined the Department of Radiology as a 2019-2020 Abdominal Imaging fellow. 
Dr. Olinger: “After witnessing all that the department offers firsthand as a fellow, including the collegial environment and commitment to top-notch education, I am so excited for the opportunity to stay with UNC Radiology. I look forward to contributing to resident/fellow/medical student education and pursuing clinical research particularly within women’s imaging through collaboration with UNC’s Gynecologic Oncology team.”
The Department was pleased to appoint Assistant Professor Clayton Commander, MD, PhD, to its Vascular-Interventional Radiology (VIR) division in July 2020. Dr. Commander graduated as the Department’s first Integrated IR resident in July (2015 – 2020). He joins the division’s faculty team 10 years after exploring specialties as a UNC medical student (2010 – 2014) led him to VIR. 
Commander is an established scholar with a PhD in Operations Research (University of FL). A year prior to starting medical school, a UNC Distinguished Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary Diseases/Critical Care) recruited him for his computational mathematics and computer science expertise in working on cystic fibrosis genetic modification studies. From this experience, Commander gained an understanding of cross-disciplinary collaboration as key to meaningful research. Over a decade, many UNC faculty researchers have recruited him to studies where he routinely serves as lead investigator or co-author. In residency, Commander has recruited medical students and junior residents to his own projects.
During medical school and residency, former Division Chief Dr. Charles Burke and Integrated/Independent IR Programs Director Dr. Bob Dixon mentored and became friends of Commander. Well received by the entire VIR team, his Vascular Surgery and Surgical ICU experience brought welcome clinical skills during his training years.
Commander noted: “I look forward to helping pave the way for future Integrated IR residents. Already slated are adding electives to the program curriculum for residents to participate in multidisciplinary tumor boards and rotating through the transplant and hepatology services. We also foresee allowing program residents to join Diagnostic Radiology trainees in volunteering with UNC Radiology Malawi Program and RAD-AID International to bring imaging services to under-resourced regions worldwide.”
The Department was pleased to welcome Assistant Professor Erin Moran, MD, to its Musculoskeletal Imaging division in August 2020. Dr. Olinger is one of five clinical faculty working under the direction of Division Chief Dr. Daniel Nissman. Dr. Moran obtained her MD at Rush Medical College (Chicago, Ill). She completed Diagnostic Radiology Residency Mayo Clinic Department of Radiology (Rochester, MN), and a a one-year fellowship (Musculoskeletal Imaging) at Duke University.
The Department was pleased to welcome Vaughn Peltier, RN, MSN, CHPN, in July 2020 as the Clinical Research division’s Research Nurse Navigator, a new team position. Vaughn brings a patient care and research coordination background to the division from 14 years of working in hospice/palliative, oncology and psychiatric nursing care. A recently completed Nursing Informatics degree MSN in February 2020 brings additional expertise to the team. 
In his role, Vaughn works in patient recruitment, research coordination and providing nursing support for inquiries on UNC Radiology’s clinical research studies. For some studies, he supports patients through the study healthcare process. He may be asked to provide education to patients about their diagnoses, treatments, and the associated side effects.
As a nurse navigator, Vaughn can provide resources for patients seeking reliable information. At times, he helps patients to overcome barriers such as financing or transport. He also assists them with managing timely test and procedural appointment scheduling and answers patient questions or liaising with doctors to address questions and concerns. In this position, he complements the work of the research team by helping patients make their way through complex healthcare systems, all the way from screening to treatment adherence.
Vaughn’s training in nursing informatics can lend to improved data integration, information and knowledge so that the research team can provide better support to UNC patients, nurses and other health care providers.
Vaughn stated: “I have a background in hospice and palliative care and have contributed to several pilot programs over the past 7 years. I worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid for 5 years with the Medicare Care Choice Model and a local, non-profit palliative care and hospice provider. I was involved with several heart failure programs and palliative care programs with my last employer, Transitions Life Care. During my time there, I also piloted bringing smart phone technology into a community care setting.
The Department was pleased to appoint Luigi Troiani, PA, MHS, to its Clinical Research division in Sept. 2020 as the team’s Physician Assistant. Mr. Troiani has a joint appointment as a Clinical Instructor in UNC’s Department of Neurology and has also been appointed as an APP Liaison as of January 2020. Luigi brings 20 years of work experience in clinical research to this Department division, including expertise in IRB submissions, recruiting, consenting, and participant enrollment. 
Luigi is a graduate of Duke University’s Physician Assistant Program (School of Medicine (BHS, 1991), and went on to receive an MHS in 1994 from Duke University’s School of Allied Health. Since 2015, he has served as a member of the UNC APP Center Education Subcommittee and as the Subcommittee’s Co-Chair since 2019. He has also served as a member of the Safety Welfare Analysis Group, an IRB committee, since 2016.
Luigi noted: “I have been with UNC for 26 years, and it’s given me the opportunity to practice in both clinical and research settings in various departments and divisions. Learning and mastering skills from each of these diverse environments allows me to draw from a broad knowledge base that I can apply to my current roles.
The Department was pleased to welcome Louis Murphy, BA, in August 2020 as the newest Clinical Research Assistant on the Clinical Research team. In this role, Louis will be tapped for a range of skill sets — patient recruitment, data entry and electronic data capture software (REDCap) development of a clinical and translational research database overseen by his division. In the early months of this position, he is focused on patient enrollment.
Louis’ four years of working in clinical research brings data entry and patient recruitment expertise to his division. Prior to joining UNC, he worked as electroencephalogram (EEG) technologist gathering data from EEG experiments focused on cognitive disorganization in adolescents UNC Chapel Hill Neurocognition and Imaging Research Lab (UNC NIRL). Mr. Murphy received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.