Last Updated: 1/8/2007

Clinical Interests
Dr. Dressler's clinical interest is in the area of breast cancer,pharmacogenomics and clinical trials.

Research Interests
Dressler's 25 year career spans translational research, science and public policy and research ethics. Working at the interface between the research lab and the clinic, her efforts have focused on translating research findings into clinical practice. Her lab performed the research study that lead to the FDA approval of the HER2 FISH assay, a test now used throughout the U.S. and Europe to predict response to chemo and immunotherapy. Working with the NCI clinical trials groups, Dressler has focused efforts on the development of research policy for use of human specimens in cancer and genetic research and in the conduct of biobanks. Her research interests in the ethical, legal, social and policy (ELSP) implications of genomic research include disclosure of genetic research results, ownership and control of human specimens and data, and the translation of pharmacogenetic research into medical practice.

Recent Accomplishments and Honors
Research Highlights:

HER2 and Translational Research:
Work from Dressler's laboratory has indicated that HER2 gene amplification, measured by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), predicts clinical outcome following adjuvant adriamycin therapy in stage II breast cancer patients (Dressler, JNCI, 2006). Work from my lab has also addressed the different methods to measure HER2 protein overexpression and gene amplification and the potential caveats and advantages from each technique (Dressler and Thor, 2000).

U01 Award to Study Breast Cancer in the Eldery:
Dressler is completing a U01 grant from the NCI and National Institute of Aging, a laboratory companion to a clinical trial being conducted by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB). The laboratory study, focusing on elder breast cancer patients, evaluates metabolic enzymes and tumor markers to predict response to chemotherapy (oral capecitabine, CMF and CAF.Breast cancer in the elderly is a growing population and yet relatively few studies have focused on this age group to understand tumor biology and response to treatment.

F32 NRSA Grant: Dressler was awarded this training grant from NHGRI to evaluate regulatory and bioethics perspectives on the disclosure of research results from genetic research studies with the ultimate goal of developing best practice guidelines.


Highlight of Recent Professional Activities:

Chair,Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB). Biospecimens and Correlative Sciences Advisory Committee.

Chair, NIH/NCI Regulatory and Ethics Subcommittee of the NCI Clinical Trials Group Banking Committee (GBC).

Coordinator, Research Ethics Consultation Service, (REACT), Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law (CGREAL), Case Western Reserve University, Dept of Bioethics.

Coordinator, Best Practices for Genetic Research Studies: A city wide User's Group

NHGRI, Invited Member. ELSI Medical Sequencing Working Groups on Informed Consent and Disclosure of Research Results. The Cancer Genome Atlas Study Working Group.

NCI, Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research. Ethics advisor.

Invited member, UNC Vice Chancellor's Ad Hoc Committee on Human Specimen Banks and DNA Repositories.

Referee: American Journal of Bioethics, J of Pharmacogenomics, Arizona Law Review, Community Genetics;J Natl Cancer Inst; J Clin Oncology, J Clinical Ca Res; CANCER; Br Ca Res Trtment.

Training
Dressler received her Masters degree in 1981 in Experimental Pathology from the State University of New York and her doctorate degree in Public Health Leadership in 2003, in health policy from the University of North Carolina, School of Public Health. She is currently completing a Fellowship in Bioethics at the Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law at Case Western Reserve University

Publications
Recent publications:
Dressler, Lynn. Human Specimens, Cancer Research and Drug Discovery: How Science Policy Can Promote Research and Protect Research Participants. Invited Report. Cancer Advisory Board. Institutes of Medicine. March, 2005. http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/26/207/IOM_fnl.pdf

Jewell Scott D, Monovich Laura C, Edgerton Susan, Schilksy Richard and Dressler Lynn. Biospecimen Banking, Standardization and Lessons Learned from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B Pathology Coordinationg Office. Int'l Journal of Breast Disease (in press, 2006).

Dressler LG, Juengst ET. Thresholds and boundaries in the disclosure of individual genetic research results. Am J Bioethics. 2006 Nov-Dec;6(6):18-20.

Dressler LG. Ownership of Banked Human Specimens.Counterpoint. Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention and Biomarkers. (in press, January, 2007).

Carey L, Perou C, Livasy C, Dressler L, Conway-Dorsey K, Karaca G, Cowan D, Torester M, Tse C, Edmiston S, Deming S, Geradts J, Cheang M, Nielson T, Moorman P, Earp HS, and R Millikan. The Poor Prognosis Basal-like Breast Cancer Subtype is Over-represented in Young African-American Women. JAMA 2006;295:2492-2502.

Harris LN, Broadwater G, Lin NU,Miron A,Schnitt S, Cowan D, Lara J, Bleiweiss I,Berry D, Ellis M, Hayes D, Winer E, Dressler L. Molecular subtypes of breast cancer in relation to paclitaxel response and outcomes in women with metastatic disease: results from CALGB 9342. Breast Cancer Res. 2006 Nov 27;8(6).

Dressler LG, Berry DA, Broadwater G, et al. HER2 by Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization (FISH) Compared to Immunohistochemistry Shows Similar Prediction for Outcome Following Dose-Intense Adjuvant Doxorubicin Therapy in Breast Cancer: The CALGB Experience.J Clinical Oncology. 2005. July 01. 23:4287-4297.

E-mail: dressler@med.unc.edu
Telephone: (919) 966-0196
FAX: (919) 966-4244
Address: 20-014 Lineberger Center, CB# 7295 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7295

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