Melissa Troester

Melissa Troester, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Research Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She leads the Carolina Breast Cancer Study and serves as Director of the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility, as well as Co-Leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Program at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focuses on biomarker development, genomic methods, and understanding breast cancer risk and progression through molecular and epidemiologic approaches.

Education:

• PhD in Environmental Health, UNC-Chapel Hill (2001)
• MPH in Epidemiology, UNC-Chapel Hill (2006)
• MS in Chemistry, University of Chicago (1995)
• BA in Chemistry, Macalester College (1994)

Research Interests: Dr. Troester’s work integrates genomics, epidemiology, and clinical data to address disparities in breast cancer outcomes, particularly in racial and ethnic populations. Her studies explore biomarker validation, tumor heterogeneity, and the molecular mechanisms underlying breast cancer subtypes. She also investigates environmental exposures and their role in disease susceptibility through her leadership at the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility.

Grants & Funding: Recent grants include a $10M award to leverage data science for precision oncology and a $17M grant to study environmental contaminants and liver cancer. A $1M gift supports her landmark work on reducing breast cancer disparities.

Labs & Teams: She directs the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility and co-leads the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, a longitudinal investigation into breast cancer biology and patient outcomes.