Paula Gordon

Paula Gordon is a Canadian radiologist and medical researcher specializing in breast cancer. She is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia.

Gordon is best known academically for her 1995 paper in The Cancer Journal, demonstrating for the first time that ultrasound could be used to find cancers missed on mammograms in women with dense breasts. Her paper attracted the attention of cancer researchers and got cited in more than 200 academic works.

In addition to research and teaching work, she was appointed to a number of positions in public health. She has been the Chair of the Early Detection Committee of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (BC/Yukon Division), Chair of the Academic Committee of the Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia, and co-chair of the Workforce Committee of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy. She has also been a member of the Steering and Prevention Committees of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy, the Provincial Radiology Expert Committee, the Provincial Screening Policy Review Committee and the BC Breast Imaging Services Working Group. As of 2023, she is a member of the board of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging, of which she is also a founding member.

In her public education role, she advocates for early screening of breast cancer using appropriate techniques, favouring yearly examinations for women exposed to a greater risk of developing breast cancer (such as dense breasts and Ashkenazi) as early as 40 years old.

She published some 35 articles on medical journals and gave some 300 lectures to medical professionals.

She volunteers as Medical Advisor to Dense Breasts Canada and DenseBreast-Info.org, and as Director on the Board of the Canucks for Kids Fund.

Honours

 * Killam Teaching Prize (University of British Columbia), 2010-2011
 * Order of British Columbia (2013)
 * Order of Canada (2023)