Dr. Volker Gressler
Born in Bad Wimpfen, Germany, Dr. Gressler attended the University of Heidelberg Medical School and entered a Ph.D. program at the German National Cancer Institute in 1975.
He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in 1981, while completing a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Hamburg Medical Center. During this fellowship, he continued to pursue his laboratory and clinical research interest in cancer biology and cancer immunology. Upon completion of his training in Germany in 1986, Dr. Gressler was awarded a national grant dedicated to a post-doctoral fellowship abroad. This led him to the United States, where he was extended a research fellowship in cellular biology and immunology from the University of Chicago. Dr. Gressler later entered a clinical fellowship in the Department of Medicine, Joint Section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and subsequently completed an additional two-year internal medicine residency at Northwestern University in Chicago in 1993.
Prior to practicing hematology and oncology in the Dallas area, Dr. Gressler joined Scott & White Hospital and Clinics in Temple, Texas. He also served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Texas A&M University. Dr. Gressler has been awarded several grants supporting his clinical and laboratory research activities, most recently as a faculty member of that institution.
Dr. Gressler has a long-standing interest in the immunobiology of cancers, leukemias and lymphomas. In his 1975 Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Gressler's work focused on the mechanisms of leukemia cells which allow them to become resistant to chemotherapy.
Dr. Gressler’s practice philosophy is based on the premise that meaningful progress in the treatment of cancer patients is contingent upon ongoing research in the basic sciences. Throughout his years of research, particularly at the University of Chicago and Texas A&M University, Dr. Gressler has participated in front-line treatment strategies, incorporating innovative clinical and laboratory findings into the treatment of cancer patients. In addition, he has initiated and/or participated in many clinical trials involving newly developed and previously untested anti-cancer drugs. Most recently, he has explored innovative approaches in cancer therapy, such as the use of biological agents and of high-dose chemotherapy with bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Gressler’s considerable knowledge is reflected in his numerous contributions to major international journals. In addition, he has served as a source for the news media. http://stream.quicksilveris.com/cbs11.wmv.
Dr. Gressler believes in a holistic and team approach to the care of cancer patients which involves constant exchange and communication with surgical colleagues, radiation therapists and psychosocial services. He believes that treatment of cancers, lymphomas and leukemias is continuously evolving, and it is Dr. Gressler’s goal to make innovative treatment approaches available to the individual cancer patient.
Dr. Gressler is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Hematology, Medical Oncology and Internal Medicine.
Dr. Gressler is married and has three children.
