Category: IN THE NEWS

The Department of Radiology proudly hosted the kickoff reception for the 2025 Castillo Scholars Program on May 28 at the Carolina Club, welcoming the newest cohort of medical students embarking on an intensive summer of learning, mentorship, and exploration in medical specialties. Now in its fifth year, the Castillo Scholars...

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,...

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...

Congratulations to all our new residents. We wish you luck with your intern year and look forward to seeing you in June 2026! Diagnostic Radiology Alexander Antigua Made Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU Pinyu Chen Wake Forest University School of Medicine Alexandra Glenn University of Cincinnati College...

Congratulations to Li Wang, PhD, and Gang Li, PhD Associate Professors, for receiving an R01 grant from the NIH! PI: Li Wang (Contact); Gang Li Title: Continued Development of Infant Neuroimaging Analysis Tools Sponsor: NIH Grant #: 1R01EB037388-01A1 Project Period: 03/01/2025-12/31/2028 Estimated Award Amount: $2,116,071 ($530,511/Year 1)   Project Goals: The...

If you’ve ever wondered who keeps the gears turning behind the scenes in the Department of Radiology at UNC, meet Alexis Evans—HR Consultant, logistics queen, and a self-proclaimed “runner of a tight ship.” With numerous responsibilities stretching across onboarding, hiring, terminations, faculty support, salary changes, promotions, and beyond, Alexis is...