Heather Dunn

Dr. Heather Dunn is an Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences (CECAS) at Clemson University. She leads the Dunn Research Laboratory, whose overarching mission is to elucidate breast-cancer signalling events involving epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMT) and the extracellular matrix (ECM) that drive tumour initiation, proliferation and metastasis.

Education:

• Ph.D. Microbiology with Cancer Emphasis, Clemson University, 2004

Research Interests:

Dr. Dunn’s work is organised around three primary pillars: (1) understanding normal and pathological mammary-gland development; (2) dissecting ECM remodelling and EMT during breast-cancer progression; and (3) exploring ancestry-dependent variations in invasive breast-cancer incidence. Her laboratory combines laser microdissection, molecular biology, advanced bioinformatics and machine-learning approaches to identify novel biomarkers and to build explainable predictive frameworks that may ultimately guide patient-specific therapeutic decisions.

Specific sub-themes include stem-cell activity in developing mammary tissue, reactivation of early developmental programmes in adult tissues, and the socioeconomic and biological underpinnings of racial disparities in triple-negative breast cancer. Long-term goals include extending ECM-based analytic pipelines to additional tumour types and diseases.

Scientific Awards:

• (No specific awards listed in the supplied text)

Advising & Grants:

While no funded-grant details or named graduate students are provided, Dr. Dunn’s active research programme suggests ongoing mentoring and grant support within the Clemson bioengineering and cancer-research communities.

Laboratory & Facilities:

The Dunn Research Laboratory is housed in Room 315 Rhodes Engineering Research Center, a state-of-the-art facility equipped for tissue microdissection, molecular profiling, and computational modelling.