raphy and the DMIST study and then
with a new technology Pisano’s lab has
created, called diffraction enhanced imaging. DEI, which Pisano plans to market
through a company she founded called
NextRay, promises to deliver higher quality images than the traditional X-ray at less
than 1 percent of the radiation dose — a
breakthrough for everyone, but particularly
for babies, children and young adults who
are most susceptible to the cancer risk that
prolonged radiation exposure carries.
She’s also involved in testing for
tomosynthesis, an imaging method that takes
a “pseudo 3-D image” of the breast, showing it in sections that could more readily
reveal tumors that hide behind tissue.
“She’s just an unusual blend of someone
who understands imaging from the actual
physics side all the way through not only
patient care, but large-scale clinical research,
understanding how imaging affects the
population,” says Earp, the cancer center
director. “Her scientific breadth is remark-
able.”
“But I’m impatient,” Pisano says. “I’m
really impatient. I look at my life and I say
to myself, with luck, I have 30 more pro-
ductive years, 30 years that I can contribute
to society. What can I do next? What can I
do that actually affects people and helps
people?”
CAROLINA
PERFORMING
ARTS
Pushing some ‘adaptations’
In the 20 years since coming to campus, she has helped captain efforts to stop
the tenure-track clock for one year when
major life events occur, to boost salary
equity on campus and, more recently, to
keep UNC’s big female minds focused on
their careers — particularly after they have
families — through the Working on
Women in Science program.
Although women earn half the science
and engineering bachelor’s degrees
awarded in the U.S., they comprise only
28 percent of science and engineering faculty nationally. Women in higher positions,
like Pisano, are even rarer; women account
for fewer than 15 percent of full professors
in the life sciences and less than 10 percent
in the physical sciences.
That Pisano also has managed to
become vice dean of a major medical
school makes her the Halley’s comet of
women in science.
“I know how hard it is to raise small
MARCH 2010 2/3 London Philharmonic Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski, conductor 14 Gilberto Gil 17 Eileen Ivers – Beyond the Bog Road
22 Pilobolus 23 Lang Lang, piano, and Christoph Eschenbach, conductor, with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra 25 Brooklyn Rider and 2 Foot Yard 31 Uncle Vanya – Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg Pat Metheny Uncle Vanya Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
APRIL 2010
6 Julia Fischer, violin
7 Pat Metheny – The Orchestrion Tour
10/11 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
17/18 Compañía Nacional de Danza –
Bach: Multiplicity / Forms of Silence
and Emptiness
27 Baaba Maal
www.carolinaperformingarts.org
Showing at UNC’s Memorial Hall
Box Office (919) 843-3333 M–F 10am–6pm
