About Me

"I love my patients and am passionate about optimizing outcomes for each individual."

Dr. Pestana is board certified in surgery and specializes in surgical oncology and benign breast disease. She is an assistant professor of surgery at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Dr. Pestana is a member of The American Society of Breast Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology and Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

She has received multiple awards, including the George Peters Award for best presentation by a breast fellow, from The American Society of Breast Surgeons and the Heroic Caregiver Award from Atrium Health. Additionally, Dr. Pestana received the Resident Research Day Fellowship Gold Award, the Resident Research Day Resident Gold Award and the Burn Resident of the Year Award from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Dr. Pestana’s current areas of research include underserved patient populations, patients who are at high risk for future breast cancer and their management, the bacteria milieu associated with breast cancer and its surgical management and optimizing mastectomy safety and outcomes.

Her prior areas of research have focused on the residual cancer burden associated with breast cancer after lumpectomy or mastectomy, the safety of surgical approaches in women under age 40 diagnosed with breast cancer and most recently, mastectomy modifications and how to best utilize these to optimize aesthetic outcomes.

Dr. Pestana received her medical degree at Temple University. She completed residency in general surgery at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, formerly Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where she was chief resident. She completed a fellowship in breast surgical oncology at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center.

Outside of work, Dr. Pestana enjoys spending time with her husband, a plastic surgeon with whom she works closely. She is fluent in Spanish and loves playing soccer, running, cooking, traveling and playing with her 3 dogs.

Additional Languages Spoken

Spanish