Author Archives: Sheerah Coe

On Saturday June 14th UNC Radiology hosted the 2025 Residency and Fellow Graduation at the Governors Club. It was an unforgettable evening filled with pride, emotion, and inspiration as graduates, their loved ones, and faculty gathered for the Department of Radiology’s annual Graduation Celebration. Held in a festive atmosphere complete with...

Three researchers from Virginie Papadopoulou’s ENHANCE Lab—which focuses on human performance in austere environments—were honored with UHMS President’s Awards at the recent joint Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) conference. Their achievements highlight the lab’s innovative approach to gas physiology modulation and its commitment to...

Dr. Muthu Kumar Sakthivel, MD, Assistant Professor, Cardiothoracic Imaging and Director of the Cardiothoracic Imaging Fellowship Program, has been elected as a Fellow of the Society for Cardiovascular MR (FSCMR)! This is a truly prestigious honor, recognizing pioneers in the field of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dr. Sakthivel is...

If you ask Fen Annarino how he ended up as a research specialist for Dr. Muir at UNC Radiology, his answer is refreshingly honest: he wasn’t exactly aiming for it—but we’re glad he landed here. “I wasn’t specifically looking for something in Radiology,” he admits, “but this job popped out at me.”...

Congratulations, Dr. John Nazarian, Chief and Associate Professor of Emergency Radiology! He won the UNC Department of Emergency Medicine Ectopic Attending Award for 2025, awarded to an educator outside of EM for outstanding dedication to teaching residents. He will receive his award at the UNC Emergency Medicine Education Banquet and Graduation on...

When you first meet Emily Werder, new assistant professor in the Department of Radiology’s Research Division, you might assume she’s laser-focused on decoding the brain’s secrets—and you’d be right. But give it a beat, and you’ll also find someone who once aspired to be Erin Brockovich, enjoys a good walk-up song,...

In April 2025, the faculty of UNC Interventional Radiology made a powerful impact at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR)—the premier event for the IR community. This year’s meeting was a testament to UNC’s continued leadership, innovation, and commitment to advancing the field of interventional radiology....

If there were a superpower tailor-made for the world of contracts and grants, Emily Gardner already has it — minus the cape. She’s UNC Radiology’s resident pre-award research administrator and unofficial office energy source, known for juggling the chaos of new grant submissions with a smile, a laugh, and maybe...

When Dr. Fernando Augusto de Albuquerque Mendes Filho—yes, it’s a mouthful, but we promise he’s as friendly as his name is long—first considered a move to the U.S., he had three things in mind: great people, a collegial environment, and absolutely minimal snow. Now officially a Clinical Instructor in the...

Researchers from the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center and UNC Radiology published their article “charting brain functional development from birth to 6 years of age” on April 15, 2025 in Nature Human Behaviour. What an awesome accomplishment! The researchers include Weili Lin, Dinggang Shen, Hongtu Zhu, Keith Smith, Pew-Thian Yap, and...

When Dr. Rom Ferre steps into the Radiology Department at the University of North Carolina (UNC), he is not just starting a new job—he is fulfilling a journey years in the making. A journey that began in France, bridged through Canada, and is now landing in Chapel Hill, where he...

Thad Benefield is not your average statistician. By day, he meticulously sifts through decades of cancer screening data, endeavoring to make messy data more accurate to advance medical research. By night (or, more accurately, in the early hours of the morning), he is in the gym, pursuing his passion for...