PhD, MPH
Professor, Epidemiology, and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Co-Leader, UNC Lineberger Cancer Epidemiology Research Program
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cancer Epidemiology, Breast Cancer
Area of Interest
Melissa Troester, PhD, MPH, professor of Epidemiology with joint appointment in Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, leads the Carolina Breast Cancer Study. She is co-leader of the UNC Lineberger Center Scientific Program in Cancer Epidemiology and Director of the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility.
Her research focuses on biomarker development and validation, genomic methods, epidemiologic methods, and breast cancer. She has more than a decade of experience working with genomic data and molecular biology of breast cancer risk and progression.
News and Stories

Troester elected chair of the AACR Populations Sciences Working Group
Melissa Troester, PhD, MPH, will serve as chair-elect and will assume the role of chair for the 2026-2028 term at the 2026 AACR Annual Meeting.

UNC researchers awarded up to $10M to leverage data science to accelerate cancer diagnosis and optimize delivery of precision oncology
A team of UNC-Chapel Hill researchers has received nearly $10 million in funding to develop the Cancer Identification and Precision Oncology Center.