Troester receives grant to identify biomarkers for breast cancer recurrence risk
| October 26, 2011 | |
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A UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health scientist was awarded one of seven grants presented by the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer at the organization’s seventh annual event in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 22-23. 
Dr. Melissa Troester (right) accepts her research funding award from Dr. Marc Hurlbert, executive director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade.
Melissa Troester, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of epidemiology, received $150,000 to support research aimed at identifying biomarkers that could better indicate which people with breast cancer are at highest risk for recurrence. Troester also is a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research is a continuation of a project initiated in 2009. Troester and co-principal investigator Keith Amos, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the UNC School of Medicine, will lead the Normal Breast Study, a unique hospital-based study of breast tissue. Troester and Amos have hypothesized that tissue surrounding the cancer may influence the clinical behavior of the cancer. “We hope to learn more about how the normal tissue around a tumor interacts with the tumor to determine its fate,” Troester said. “We are grateful to Avon for providing us with a means to extend our study to include a larger group of North Carolinians, representative of the racial composition of our state.” Other institutions receiving grants were Carolinas Medical Center, Clemson University, The Medical University of South Carolina, Randolph Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital and the North Carolina Baptist Hospital. During the Avon Walk Charlotte, which is a noncompetitive event, participants either walked a marathon (26.2 miles) or a marathon and one-half (39.3 miles) over the weekend. The 2011 Walk raised $1.7 million. Proceeds from Walk events fund local, regional and national breast cancer organizations to support five areas of the breast cancer cause, including awareness and education, screening and diagnosis, access to treatment, support services and scientific research. # # #
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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