The Department would like to recognize Dr. Katrina McGinty for her appointment to two leadership posts in August 2019: 1) Associate Medical Director – Clinical Research Core Service Center; and 2) Faculty Lead – UNC Radiology Malawi Global Health Initiative.
Dr. McGinty brings extensive clinical research experience to the Department’s Clinical Research Core Service Center as its new Associate Medical Director. Prior to arriving at UNC, she served on two GI/GU tumor boards (Urology, Gynecologic Oncology) and the Liver Transplant Patient Review Committee at Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, PA). She additionally has investigated innovative imaging methodologies for improving diagnostic accuracy (eg, gadolinium-based contrast in MRI evaluation of rectal cancer) and screening practice (eg, ultrasound evaluation of thyroid nodules). In October 2019, Dr. McGinty will present, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Clinical Trials,” at the Society of Computed Body Tomography & Magnetic Resonance (SCBT-MR) Annual Meeting. 
At UNC, Dr. McGinty has established herself as a School of Medicine (SOM) clinical faculty leader in sharing her body imaging expertise. She serves on UNC Medical Center’s hepatobiliary and GI tumor boards and also participates in multiple SOM continuing education forums. In 2019 alone, Dr. McGinty reviewed signs and treatment of ultrasound contrast reactions with UNC’s US technologists in February; presented adapted “Abdominal MR” lectures to UNC’s Gastroenterology and Radiation Oncology practitioners in April; and will speak on benign liver lesion radiographic characteristics at UNC’s High Impact Hepatology Conference in December. In the SOM and Department, she has additionally played a strong role in medical student and resident education, running the Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) body imaging elective, implementing a contrast reaction training program for radiology trainees and participating in UNC’s Radiology Resident Lecture series at established intervals.
Interim Chair Dr. Keith Smith noted: “Dr. McGinty has played a pivotal role in growing the Radiology Department Clinical Research Core Service Center. She has worked tirelessly to increase utilization of the core as the preferred method for cancer researchers to get timely and consistent lesion tracking and response assessment for their patients who are receiving cancer treatment on a clinical trial.
This work has included outreach and communication with the oncologist investigators and their research coordinators to improve awareness and streamline processes, as well as working internally to improve timeliness and consistency of the core processes. In addition, she performs the majority of the response assessments herself, which represents a major ongoing time commitment.”
As the Department’s new UNC Radiology Malawi Global Health Initiative Faculty Lead, Dr. McGinty completed her first trip to the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Malawi’s capital city Lilongwe in September 2019. There, she lectured and conducted hands-on training with medical officers and radiology technologists. Diagnostic Radiology R4s Drs. John Campbell and Benson Langdon, both on consecutive month-long global health rotations, worked closely with McGinty, routinely training and lecturing KCH medical officers while she provided faculty support. Drs. McGinty, Campbell and Langdon also assisted KCH partners in setting up an ultrasound training curriculum for the hospital’s sonographers. Together, they collaborated with Dr. McGinty’s work and KCH partners over her two weeks in Malawi to help compile a database of cases to better train UNC Diagnostic Radiology residents for future global health rotations.
Director of UNC Global Radiology Melissa Culp stated: “I look forward to working with Dr. McGinty on global health initiatives in Malawi. As I’ve come to know her this year, it is apparent that Katrina is a genuine resident advocate and an excellent educator. She is an asset to UNC Global Radiology, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with her.”