Research staff

Melissa Troester, MPH, PhD, Department of Epidemiology
Liza Makowski, PhD


Outreach staff

Kathleen Gray, MSPH
Neasha Graves, MPA

 

Melissa Troester
UNC BCERP Principal Investigator
Professor, Department of Epidemiology
troester@email.unc.edu; (919) 966-7408

 
Melissa Troester, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Epidemiology at University of North Carolina and a member of the LIneberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.  She received her PhD in Environmental Health Sciences (2001) and her MPH. in Epidemiology (2006) from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She began genomic studies of breast cancer as an Environmental Pathology Fellow in the UNC Department of Pathology (2001-2004) and as a Cancer Prevention and Control Fellow at Lineberger (2004-2006).  Genomic studies of breast cancer continue to be a focus for her lab, which is studying how breast microenvironment is affected by age, reproductive history, and other breast cancer risk factors.  By combining observational studies using normal breast tissue and experimental studies using coculture models of breast cancer, her lab is evaluating how the breast microenvironment and stromal-epithelial interactions are altered with breast cancer risk and progression. Dr. Troester is Principal Investigator of the University of North Carolina Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program project and is leading epidemiologic studies of basal-like breast cancer microenvironment.  Her lab is also using cell line models to study basal-like interactions with obese microenvironments.

Liza Makowski
UNC BCERP Co-Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition

liza.makowski@unc.edu; (919) 843-4348

 
Liza Makowski is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Division of Nutrition Biochemistry in the Departments of Nutrition and Medicine at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health and School of Medicine. Dr. Makowski has expertise in animal and cell culture-based obesity, cancer, diabetes and atherosclerosis research focusing on mitochondrial metabolism and inflammation in the macrophage and other immune cells, using biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, microarray expression and metabolomic analysis, as well as histological analysis. Before coming to UNC, Dr. Makowski earned a Ph.D. in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and also obtained a Masters in Medicine (MM) from Harvard Medical School concurrent with her PhD studies before completing her postdoctoral studies at Duke University in the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology & Cancer Biology. Dr. Makowski is Co-Principal Investigator of the UNC BCERP, and is leading studies of obesity, pregnancy and basal-like breast cancer using animal models.

Kathleen Gray
UNC BCERP Community Partner
Director of Community Outreach and Engagement Core of UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility
kgray@unc.edu; (919) 966-9799

 
Kathleen Gray is the director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) in the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS), a federally-funded research center in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Ms. Gray works to enhance public understanding of current environmental science and health research and its relevance to daily life, and to empower North Carolinians to make informed decisions that protect the environment and public health. Ms. Gray has over 20 years’ experience conducting environmental health education with community audiences and assisting businesses and government agencies in making sustainable choices. Prior to joining UNC, she led an assessment of NC’s recycling industry for the Division of Pollution Prevention in the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, advised over 300 businesses in expanding their use of environmentally responsible products and services for Green Seal, assisted EPA’s voluntary environmental programs in developing and evaluating educational materials, and led a community-focused environmental health program at Vanderbilt University. Ms. Gray earned an MSPH in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from UNC-Chapel Hill and a BS in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University.
Neasha Graves
UNC BCERP Community Partner
Manager of Community Outreach and Engagement Core of UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility
neasha_graves@unc.edu; (919) 966-3746

Neasha Graves is the manager of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) in the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS). Ms. Graves coordinates outreach on environmental health and environmentally-related diseases for various audiences throughout the state. Prior to joining the COEC, she was a public health program consultant for the NC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, worked with the NC Office of Environmental Education and was a high school social studies teacher. Ms. Graves earned an MPA from North Carolina Central University and a BA in History from Meredith College.

Back to top


The UNC BCERP has many other collaborators who make this research possible.
troesterlab

 

 makowskilab2
CONTACT INFORMATION
UNC BCERP Principal Investigator: Melissa Troester
Funding provided by NIEHS Grant # U01 ES019472-01

135 Dauer Drive
CB #7435
Chapel Hill 27599-7435
(919) 966-7408