Anna Sorace, Ph.D., director of the Small Animal Imaging Facility, an institutional core for the university, and assistant professor for the Division of Advanced Medical Imaging Research in the Department of Radiology, has been awarded the junior faculty Dean's Excellence Award in Research.
Sorace completed her undergraduate training at Mississippi State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Biological Engineering. After, she attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, earning a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, followed by post-doctoral training at Vanderbilt University in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science within the Department of Radiology.
Sorace comes from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was an assistant professor in the Departments of Diagnostic Medicine, Oncology, and Biomedical Engineering. She joined the UAB Department of Radiology in 2019 as an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology, with a co-appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and serves as director for the Small Animal Imaging Facility. Additionally, she is an associate scientist for the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Sorace was recognized in Birmingham Business Journal's "Women to Watch" in 2021. Her current grants include a NIH S10, NIH R01, and American Cancer Society RSG. She also received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Award in 2021 with her mentee Tiara Napier to enhance mentorship and diversity in graduate scientific research.
Sorace's broad research interests include improving cancer patient care through translational advancements in cancer imaging. Specifically, she investigates imaging biomarkers for early response to neoadjuvant and adjuvant cancer treatment and utilizes quantitative imaging to guide and improve drug delivery of current therapies in cancer. She has expertise in multimodality, non-invasive quantitative imaging to improve cancer detection, monitoring, and therapy in both preclinical animal models and clinical cancer research.
"I have no doubt that Dr. Sorace's work will improve outcomes for women with breast cancer, and her collaborations will continue to support so many of our UAB translational researchers," said Cheri Canon, M.D., FACR, FAAWR, FSAR, chair of the Department of Radiology.