Melissa earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the mentorship of Balfour Sartor, M.D.. Her graduate studies focused on investigating how the effects of dietary iron on the gut microbiota influences disease development in murine models of inflammatory bowel diseases. She continued working in the microbiome field as a postdoctoral fellow at UNC-CH with Janelle Arthur, Ph.D., where she investigated how dysregulated iron metabolism in commensal E. coli can promote fibrosis, a serious complication of many inflammatory diseases. Melissa completed her postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern under the mentorship of Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D. Her work demonstrated that endocannabinoids - a class of lipid-derived hormones that signal through cannabinoid receptors in the host - can also be sensed by a bacterial pro-virulence receptor and attenuate the virulence of foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and enterohemorrhagic E. coli. NOw at UofSC, Melissa's research aims to investigate how diet- and host-derived signals modulate the behaviors and physiology of the gut microbiota and consequent host-bacterial interactions.  Lern more about Melissa's research here!