Lynn Dressler


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	*Lynn Dressler*

Lynn G. Dressler, Dr. P. H, is Assistant Professor in the School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Health Policy, and is Associate Director for Policy and Ethics, in the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. Dressler’s background spans translational research in breast cancer, health policy and bioethics. As a translational researcher in breast cancer, she has worked at the interface between the laboratory and clinical practice, evaluating promising new tumor markers to predict prognosis and response to therapy. Her laboratory at UNC Lineberger Cancer Center performed the clinical research study that demonstrated clinical validity and directly lead to the FDA approval of the HER2 FISH assay (Abbott Pathvysion kit™), a clinical test now used throughout the U.S. and Europe to predict response to therapy in breast cancer patients. Building on her laboratory background, Dressler currently integrates her experience in science and public policy (she holds a doctorate in health policy), with her work in research ethics, serving as a bridge between scientific discovery and practical implementation. Overall, her interests are two-fold: to integrate ELSI analysis into the scientific process and to address ELSI and policy issues faced in integrating pharmacogenomics into clinical practice. She leads one of the five main projects of the UNC CEER. Her project uses a multi-case approach and policy analysis of the early genetic variation studies sponsored by the NIH (NIH (SNP/HAPMAP and Environment-Genetics Polymorphisms) which have now generated data that are being used by secondary investigators. The study will examine lessons learned in these early experiences and how they can be applied to policy development needs of future genomic studies. Dressler serves as the co-Director of the UNC CEER Research Ethics Consultation Service, a confidential and scholarly approach to aid researchers, study teams, IRBs and others to identify and address ELSI issues inherent in many genetic and genomic studies conducted across campus.


	*Related Publications*

Hayes, D., Thor, A., Dressler, L., Weaver, D., Edgerton, S., Cowan, D., Broadwater, G., Goldstein, L., Martino, S., Ingle, J., Henderson, I.C., Norton, L., Winer, E., Hudis, C., Ellis, M., and Berry, D. (2007) HER2 and response to paclitaxel in node-positive breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(15), 1496-1506.

Dressler, L. G. (2007). Control and Use of Banked Human Specimens in Research. Biospecimen “Ownership” Counterpoint Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention and Biomarkers,16, 2, 190-191.

Dressler, L. G. and Juengst, E. (2006). Thresholds and Boundaries in the Disclosure of Individual Genetic Research Results. American Journal of Bioethics, 6, 6, 18-20.

Jewell, S. D., Monovich, L. C., Edgerton, S., Schilksy, R. and Dressler, L. G. (2006). Biospecimen Banking, Standardization and Lessons Learned from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B Pathology Coordinating Office. Seminars in Breast Disease, 8, 2, 93-99.

Dressler, L. G. (2005). Human Specimens, Cancer Research and Drug Development: How Science Policy can Promote Progress and Protect Research Participants. Invited Background Paper. National Cancer Advisory Board of the Institutes of Medicine (IOM). Available at: http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/26/207/IOM_fnl.pdf.

Millikan, R., Eaton, A., Worley, K., Biscocho, L., Hodgson, E., Hunag, W., Geradts, J., Iacocca, M., Cowan, D., Conway, K. and Dressler, L. G. (2003). HER2 codon 655 polymorphism and risk of breast cancer in African American and whites. Breast Cancer Res and Treatment, 70, 355-364.

Dressler, L. G., Geradts, J., Burroughs, M., Cowan, D., Millikan, R. C., and Newman, B. (1999). Policy guidelines for the utilization of formalin- fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections: the UNC SPORE experience. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 58, 1, 31-39.

Millikan, R. C., Kornblith, A. B., McIntyre, O. R., Berry, D., Broadwater, G., Sandler, D., Karas, K., Dressler, L. G., Gross, L., Collyar, D., and Schilsky, R. (1998). Genetic testing in breast cancer cooperative clinical trials: barriers and opportunities. Cancer Therapeutics, 1, 95-99.

Dressler, L. G. (1998). Genetic Testing for the BRCA1 Gene and the Need for Protection from Discrimination: an Evolving Legislative and Social Issue. Int. J of Breast Disease, 10, 1 (2), 127-135.

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The Center for Genomics and Society is supported by the ELSI Research Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health, Grant Number P50HG004488.