Cancer Researcher Reaches Settlement With UNC at Chapel Hill

Bonnie Yankaskas, a cancer researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who was demoted after a security breach was discovered in a medical study she directed, has reached a settlement with the institution. Ms. Yankaskas, lead investigator in the Carolina Mammography Registry, had appealed the university’s disciplinary action against her in response to the breach, which could have revealed medical records of more than 100,000 women whose data were studied. According to a news release on Friday, she has agreed to dismiss her appeal and retire from the university on or before December 31, 2011. The university has agreed to pay Ms. Yankaskas $175,000 toward her legal fees, reinstate her as a full professor, and rescind a salary cut. In January, at least 125 faculty members, alumni, and researchers at many institutions signed a petition to the trustees of the University of North Carolina in support of Ms. Yankaskas.