Dr. Bonnie Joe’s Commitment? Save More Women’s Lives

Working at the forefront of breast imaging, Bonnie Joe, MD, PhD steadily pushes for improvement in daily practice, national health policy, and technological development. At the center of her commitment? Saving more lives.

Dr. Joe frequently serves as a departmental spokesperson for annual breast cancer screening that begins at age forty. “The data show that starting screening at 40 and continuing every year prevents more breast cancer deaths than any other approach,” she says. News sources rely on Dr. Joe for thoughtful and accurate assessments of breast imaging best practices.

Her next step in improving women’s health is through digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT, or sometimes informally referred to as “3D mammography”), which is currently available for clinical use at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and UCSF Mt. Zion campuses. While conventional mammography is a lifesaving tool, DBT represents a significant step forward, as it has the potential to detect certain invasive cancers that would be otherwise undetectable by traditional means. The latest evolution of digital mammography is poised to further support Dr. Joe’s mission – saving even more lives with screening and early detection for breast cancer.