Denise Aberle

Denise Aberle at UCLA was the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) principal investigator — the landmark randomized trial demonstrating that low-dose CT screening reduces lung cancer mortality by 20% compared to chest X-ray in high-risk smokers. This trial led to USPSTF recommendations for annual lung CT screening and represents the most impactful advance in lung cancer early detection, potentially preventing tens of thousands of lung cancer deaths annually.