Breast Cancer Awareness Advocate, David Anderson, MD, retired from MSU Radiology

March 23, 2022

David R. Anderson, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Section Chief of Breast Imaging and co-director of the Radiology Breast Imaging and Musculoskeletal ­­Fellowship program, has retired effective March 1, 2022. 

Dr. Anderson has been a community advocate for early detection of breast cancer through regular mammograms for over two decades.  Known for his outreach at breast cancer awareness events in the greater Lansing area and a frequent guest expert for local news stations, Dr. Anderson provided the community with current medical information on breast cancer detection and encouraged annual mammograms as the best prevention.

Anderson’s father was a professor at MSU, and he grew up in East Lansing, attending and graduating from East Lansing Public schools.  He attended Northwestern University and earned a Chemical Engineering degree.  After a ten-year career in engineering, Dr. Anderson attended medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, receiving his degree in 1995. He completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in Richmond, Virginia in 1999. During residency, he served as a Chief Resident and was given the M. Pinson Neal, Jr., MD, Outstanding Resident Award. Dr. Anderson then completed a Breast Imaging Fellowship at MCV in 2000.

After completing his Breast Imaging Fellowship at Medical College of Virginia, Dr. Anderson was recruited to the Breast Care Center. Seven years later, he founded the Breast Center of Lansing which later became part of the MSU Department of Radiology.  Dr. Anderson’s practice focus has been breast cancer detection and image-guided breast interventional procedures.

Dr. Anderson has been an invited speaker by It’s a Breast Thing, Health Sisters Tea, Women’s Health Interest Groups of Michigan State University, Aitch Foundation/MSU Federal Credit Union, MSU Department of Surgery and MSU Family Medicine and has been interviewed on WLNS-6 News, WILX-10 News, the Spartan Tailgate Show, and the Suzy Merchant Show on Spartan Radio Network. Additionally, he has numerous publications and was a reviewer for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Reporting to Colleges of Osteopathic and Human Medicine, the Department of Radiology supports multiple university missions. Physician faculty are Radiologists providing outstanding patient care at the MSU Health Care Imaging Clinics on campus and at local hospitals through with the Spartan Radiology joint venture.  Radiology research faculty have a strong research program, ranking within the top 50 nationally for NIH funding, and rising every year. Academically, faculty are training future generations of highly skilled and compassionate physicians as well as educating undergraduate and graduate students. Our outreach includes involvement in breast cancer awareness activities and providing a calming environment for patients, visitors, students, and medical personnel in the Radiology Healing Gardens.

Dr. Anderson has been a resource for the community, providing compassionate care for all his patients and contributes as a partner throughout their breast cancer journey. The Department of Radiology wishes to increase outreach to all Spartans to remind their loved ones that early detection of breast cancer saves lives and to continue the department’s commitment to excellence for high quality mammogram diagnoses.