A prominent UNC-Chapel Hill researcher has settled a dispute with the university, re-gaining her credentials and full salary while agreeing to retire at the end of the year.

Bonnie Yankaskas, a noted epidemiologist, had been demoted, her pay cut essentially in half, after a hacker infiltrated a computer server that she, as the principal investigator for a massive breast cancer study, oversaw.

Yankaskas has overseen the Carolina Mammography Registry, a federally funded project that compiles and analyzes mammogram data submitted by dozens of radiology offices across North Carolina to improve breast cancer screening.

The university held her responsible for the breach and first tried to fire her before later recommending the demotion from full to associate professor and the pay cut.

Under the terms of a settlement announced Friday, Yankaskas has regained her status as a full professor and her full salary of $175,000 has been restored.

She agreed to retire Dec. 31 of this year, according to a news release issued late Friday.

Under the terms of the agreement, the university will not comment on the settlement’s terms. Nor will Yankaskas, according to her attorney, Raymond Cotton.