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About Us
Neuroradiology

Our fellowship is designed to produce knowledgeable, well-rounded neuroradiologists who excel in meeting the demands of a busy clinical practice, while also being able to succeed and flourish in an academic setting. Fellows rotate regularly through clinical services at the main hospital campus and at our nearby outpatient imaging center, with dedicated exposure to all core aspects of diagnostic neuroimaging, including brain imaging; pediatric neuroimaging; head and neck imaging; spine imaging; and vascular interventional neuroradiology. In addition, fellows gain ample exposure to advanced imaging techniques, including functional MRI, DTI, MR spectroscopy, MR vessel wall imaging, perfusion CT and MR, and fetal MRI. Fellows actively participate in image interpretation and image-guided procedures and participate in several regular multidisciplinary conferences. The clinical experience is further supplemented with regularly scheduled didactic and educational conferences, including a dedicated fellow lecture series and regular case conferences, including weekly pediatric neuroradiology conferences. Finally, we endeavor to give our fellows the flexibility to tailor their experiences with plenty of academic and elective time available to them throughout the year. Ample research and global health opportunities are also available for interested candidates.

Our yearly calendar is composed of 13 four-week blocks, with fellows rotating weekly among four different areas:

  • Brain imaging (13 weeks)
  • ENT imaging and procedures (13 weeks)
  • Spine imaging (13 weeks)
  • Flex time (9 weeks)

Work days in all of the core clinical services (Brain, ENT, and Spine) include significant daily exposure to pediatric neuroimaging cases (including neonatal ultrasound and fetal MRI), which on average account for approximately 15-20% of the total volume interpreted by fellows.

Flex time can be tailored to each individual fellow’s interests and may be used for activities including: neurointerventional radiology, meeting attendance, academic time for research or other scholarly activities, and various other electives. Electives can be taken within the Neuroradiology Division or with any of the other divisions in the Department of Radiology (thoracic imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, nuclear medicine, PET/CT, pediatrics, interventional radiology, cardiovascular imaging, breast imaging, and GI/GU imaging) or other select departments at UNC, including the departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Anesthesiology (Pain Management), and Pathology.

A limited number of second-year fellowship positions are also available to qualified individuals.  Second year fellows continue to rotate through clinical services but are afforded additional academic, elective, and meeting time.

MRI
We have access to ten clinical MRI scanners including seven 1.5T and three 3T magnets. One of our upcoming 3T scanners is equipped with a dedicated 64 channel high-resolution head and neck coil. In addition, our Biomedical Research Imaging Center houses 3T MR/PET and 7T units. We have a high-volume MRI service coveringthe entire spectrum of neurological diseases, including inflammatory/demyelinating conditions, infections, neuro-oncology, congenital brain malformations, neurodegenerative, and vascular pathology, among others.

CT
We have ten CT scanners ranging from 64 to 128 detectors (including two dual energy units), one cone beam CT scanner dedicated to head and neck imaging, a state-of-the-art photon counting CT, and three combination PET/CT scanners.

Fluoroscopy

There are six digital fluoroscopy rooms in our main hospital. During this rotation, fellows perform and supervise inpatient and outpatient fluoroscopic spine procedures.

Our faculty are actively involved in multiple areas of research, including stroke and vessel wall imaging, spine trauma, imaging of pediatric hearing loss, and carbon nanotube-based CT imaging.  Several of our faculty are PIs or co-investigators on ongoing federally and industry sponsored studies.

In addition to clinical research taking place on the hospital side, there are numerous ongoing research projects and opportunities at the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC). The BRIC was formed in 2005 to support image-based biomedical research across the UNC System and is a statewide resource serving researchers across the state of North Carolina in a central facility that handles the acquisition, processing, analysis, storage, and retrieval of images. The center is located one block south of the UNC Hospital building and houses both human and animal imaging equipment, including a 7T whole-body MRI, multinuclear capable 3T MRI, PET/MRI, cyclotron, and a full complement of small animal imaging modalities.

On average, fellows take 1 night of at-home backup beeper call per week, and one weekend of call per four-week block. Fellows are given an academic day on the Monday after each call weekend.
Fellows are provided 3 weeks (15 days) of vacation/PTO for the year with an additional week of vacation provided by the department over the Christmas/New Years’ holidays.  Please visit the UNC Office of Graduate Medical Education GME policies page for additional information on paid time off and other benefits.
Qualifying fellows are allowed and encouraged to engage in both internal and external moonlighting activities.  Note that moonlighting time is counted towards a fellow’s GME duty hour limits.

Benjamin Huang
Neuroradiology Fellowship Director
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Kassie McCullagh
Neuroradiology Fellowship Associate Program Director
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Virginia Carver
Fellowship Coordinator
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Faculty