Section Chief of Breast Surgery
Surgical Director of the Breast Care Program
Associate Professor
Recipient of the 2020 UNC Health Care and UNC Faculty Physicians Award for Carolina Care Excellence
SPECIALTIES
Breast surgical oncology, including excisional biopsy; lumpectomy; mastectomy; skin-sparing mastectomy; nipple-sparing mastectomy; oncoplastic surgery; sentinel lymph node biopsy and mapping; axillary node dissection; axillary reverse mapping to reduce lymphedema, locally advanced breast cancer; breast cancer in young women; breast sarcomas; benign breast disease; high risk breast cancer patients.
EDUCATION
- Fellowship: Breast Oncology and Oncoplastics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 2013-2014
- Residency: Oklahoma State university Medical Center, Tulsa, OK 2008-2013
- DO: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg, WV 2004-2008
BOARD CERTIFICATIONS
General Surgery – Board Certified (2015)
PUBLICATIONS
Search for publications on PubMed using gallagher k* as search criteria
PATIENT STORIES
| Male Breast Cancer Survivor | April 15, 2020
Men account for less than 1% of diagnosed breast cancers in the United States. While the risks are low, there is still a possibility of developing breast cancer. That possibility became very real for John Ozols, who at 72 had settled comfortably into retirement. Read more about John’s story. |
| The Drive for Survival, a Breast Cancer Survivor Story | July 13, 2018
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| Breast Cancer Treatment During COVID-19 | March 25, 2021
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The trip from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Chapel Hill is only about three hours, 148 miles of mostly highway across a landscape of pine trees and old oaks with towns dotting the horizon. Krystal Hensley, a 29-year-old cancer survivor knew the route by heart. “I could have gone somewhere closer to home but I trust my doctors at UNC Health.” 
For those diagnosed with a disease, the potential of contracting COVID-19 adds another layer of stress and required caution to the situation. It was hard enough to learn about her breast cancer diagnosis, but just as she started treatment, Brighid Willis, a 44-year-old Chatham county resident, was faced with a new worry: COVID-19 rushed on to the international scene and altered her plans. 