Contributions by role
Contributions by subject area
Melissa M Grant
Summary
Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
Co-lead for the Periodontal Research Group (PRG)
Melissa graduated in 1997 with a BSc in Biochemistry and immediately took up a CASE Award (Du Pont) PhD in the laboratories of Dr Dennis Briggs, studying enzymes involved in the germination of wheat grain. These enzymes would ultimately be exploited in the improvement of animal feeds and in bread baking, allowing bread to rise more and yield a ‘fluffier’ loaf.
She was introduced to the field of proteomic research at the end of her PhD and subsequently went on to set up the proteomic laboratory of Prof Helen Griffiths at Aston University. Leading on from her interests in nutrition Melissa investigated the effects of vitamins C, E and folate on human health and disease, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart diseases. She analysed both human plasma samples and cell culture derived samples, generating a number of papers during this post doctoral research.
In 2005 she joined the School of Dentistry's Periodontal Research Group at the University of Birmingham as lead postdoctoral fellow on projects to assess how micronutrients could be used to improve oral health. She was appointed as lecturer in 2011 in Biological Sciences and has office and laboratory space in both the schools of dentistry and biosciences.