Lucia Pirisi-Creek, born in Italy, is Professor of Pathology and Microbiology at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. She received her M.D. degree in Italy in 1983 and moved to the USA in 1985 as an NIH Fogarty Visiting Scientist, to conduct basic cancer research at the National Cancer Institute. From there, she moved to South Carolina in 1987, to become Assistant Professor of Pathology at the USC School of Medicine in 1988. She is the author or co-author of 56 scientific publications, has mentored numerous Ph.D., Master, and Undergraduate students in research. Dr. Pirisi-Creek co-directs with her husband and collaborator, Dr. Kim E. Creek, an active, extramurally-funded research program focusing on cervical cancer and its major causative agent, human papillomavirus (HPV). In 2004, she became Senior Faculty Associate for Biomedical Research with the Vice President for Research at USC, and in that capacity, served as Interim Deputy Director of the Research Division of the South Carolina Cancer Center for two years. She currently directs the SC INBRE program, a $ 17.3 million state-wide program funded by the National Center for Research Resources to support biomedical research infrastructure and training at primarily undergraduate institutions in South Carolina.
Dr. Pirisi-Creek is a founding member, and the Secretary/Treasurer of the International Papillomavirus Society. She was head-organizer of the 17th International Papillomavirus Conference, the major annual meeting in her main research field, in Charleston, SC, in 1999 (with Drs. Kim Creek, Thomas R. Broker and Louise Chow). She also has a research interest in the breast cancer field. Among her interests outside of science are music, poetry and dance. In 2003, she spearheaded the formation of the South Carolina Multicultural Arts Center, Inc., (SC McAC) of which she is President. Through the SC McAC, she has organized and directs “Artists Against Breast Cancer”, a research, education and outreach program that uses the arts to promote breast cancer awareness and to encourage women to get screened for this disease.