Dr Melissa Grant BSc, PhD, SFHEA

Dr Melissa Grant

School of Dentistry
Associate Professor

Contact details

Email
m.m.grant@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
The School of Dentistry
5 Mill Pool Way
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B5 7EG
United Kingdom

Dr Melissa Grant joined the University of Birmingham in 2011 as a Lecturer in the School of Dentistry.

She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016.  She is joint lead for the Periodontal Research Group (PRG) and has a wide range of interests around the protein players associated with oral and systemic disease.

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy, 2017

  • PhD Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, 2001.

  • BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, 1997.

Teaching

Mel contributes broadly in the School of Dentistry and across the University of Birmingham campus:

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Grant is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the areas of:

Saliva diagnostics, protein biomarkers, oral and systemic disease. Please get in touch if you have an interest in joining the team.

Research

Melissa Grant’s research centres the protein players associated with oral disease. She is interested in exploring novel panels of biomarkers to detect chronic inflammatory disease, such as periodontitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, chronic kidney disease and lung disease; the structure and function of proteins in the mouth and in circulation under these various conditions; the detection of these proteins by point of care tests; and the production of these proteins in cell models are of particular interest.

Current PhD students are examining novel ways to detect protein biomarkers in saliva, discovery of biomarkers for oral blisters from different diseases, blister fluid composition from patients with epidemolysis bullosa and biomarkers for heart health in captive great apes.

Other activities

  • Director of Postgraduate Research, College of Medicine and Health, 2025 - onwards
  • Postgraduate Research Lead, School of Dentistry 2021 - 2024
  • Equality Diversity and Inclusion Lead, School of Dentistry 2011 - 2024
  • Deputy Programme Lead for Biomedical Materials Science, 2021 - 2023
  • Curator Open Wide Exhibition space, Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry, 2017 onwards
  • Ambassador for Public Engagement, School of Dentistry, 2011 onwards
  • Birmingham Open Media Fellow 2014 - 2024

In relation to learned societies

  • Committee member for Oral Microbiology and Immunology Group (OMIG), part of the British Society for Oral and Dental Research from 2021 onwards
  • Committee member for Association of Science Educators in Dentistry (ASEID) from 2022 - 2024

Working with industry

  • Previous and ongoing industry collaborations include Mologic, Philips, Waltham Centre for Pet Science, Unilever

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Keshavarz, S, Hirschfeld, J & Grant, M 2026, 'Differential Antimicrobial Activity of Two LL37 Derivatives Against Periodontal Bacteria, Including Enhanced Efficacy Against P. gingivalis in the Presence of Cigarette Smoke', Frontiers in Microbiology.

Jarvis, R, Baiker, K, Moittie, S, Dobbs, P, White, K, Liptovszky, M & Grant, MM 2026, 'Discovery of novel biomarkers associated with myocardial fibrosis in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)', Frontiers In Veterinary Science. <https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2026.1794729/abstract>

Lopez-Oliva, I, Chapple, I, Paropkari, A, Saraswat, S, Sharma, P, Serban, S, De Pablo, P, Raza, K, Filer, A, Dietrich, T, Grant, M & Kumar, PS 2026, 'Dysbiosis-Mediated Inflammation: A Pathophysiological Link Between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Periodontitis', Journal of Clinical Periodontology, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 466-477. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpe.70063, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpe.70063

Solera Sales, L, Hewitt, B, Muchová, M, Lourenção Brighenti, F, Kuehne, SA, Grant, MM & Milward, MR 2025, 'Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial evaluation of morin', Archives of Oral Biology, vol. 178, 106343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2025.106343

Kaminska, M, Kałucka, U, Babickova, J, Benedyk-Machaczka, M, Skandalou, E, Grant, MM, Marti, H-P & Mydel, P 2025, 'Bradykinin’s carbamylation as a mechanisticlink to impaired wound healing in patientswith kidney dysfunction', BMC Biology, vol. 23, 76. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02187-x

Rakic, M, Calciolari, E, Grant, M, Radovanovic, S, Bostanci, N & Preshaw, PM 2025, 'Host Markers of Periodontal Diseases: Meta-Analysis with Meta-regression of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies', Journal of Clinical Periodontology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpe.14167

Balacco, D, Bardhan, A, Ibrahim, H, Kuehne, S, Grant, M, Hirschfeld, J, Heagerty, A & Chapple, I 2025, 'Optimisation of cutaneous microbiota sampling methodology', Frontiers In Microbiomes, vol. 4, 1559981. https://doi.org/10.3389/frmbi.2025.1559981

Virdee, S, Bashir, N, Grant, M, Cooper, P & Tomson, P 2025, 'Therapeutic Irrigant Procedures for Treating Apical Periodontitis (TIPTAP): a triple blinded parallel group randomised controlled phase I/II trial', International Endodontic Journal, vol. 58, no. 7, pp. 965-990. https://doi.org/10.1111/iej.14233

Muchová, M, Kuehne, S, Grant, M, Chapple, I & Hirschfeld, J 2024, 'Fusobacterium nucleatum elicits subspecies-specific responses in human neutrophils', Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, vol. 14, 1449539. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2024.1449539

Chapter

Grant, M, Stamboulis, A & de Peyer, O 2025, Microbes in space and spacecraft. in A Akinsemolu & H Onyeaka (eds), Green Microbiology: Sustainability, Climate Change, Food, and Water. Elsevier, pp. 171-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-24040-9.00011-2

Abstract

Keshavarz, S, Hirschfeld, J & Grant, M 2025, 'P41 Combating periodontal disease: chitosan-FK13a1 microparticles as a promising antibiotic alternative', JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance, vol. 7, no. Supplement_4, dlaf230.048, pp. iv19. https://doi.org/10.1093/jacamr/dlaf230.048

Sahoo, K, Grant, M, Wyatt, D & Rahman, A 2025, 'P56 D-amino acids: the role of D-leucine in biofilm eradication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa', JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance, vol. 7, no. Supplement_4, dlaf230.063, pp. iv25. https://doi.org/10.1093/jacamr/dlaf230.063

Conference contribution

Tanweer, T, Grant, M, Rana, NF, Javaid, S & Ahmad, NM 2025, Synthetic periodontal membranes with magnesium-doped zinc oxide to control bacterial adhesion and immuno-inflammatory responses. in Synthetic Periodontal Membranes with Magnesium-Doped Zinc Oxide to Control Bacterial Adhesion and Immuno-Inflammatory Responses. Biomedical Engineering International Conference (BMEiCON), vol. 2025, pp. 1-6, 17th Biomedical Engineering International Conference (BMEiCON), Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2025, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 15/07/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/BMEiCON66226.2025.11113737

Editorial

Taba, M & Grant, MM 2024, 'Editorial: Salivary biomarkers for oral and systemic diseases', Frontiers in Dental Medicine, vol. 5, 1429305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdmed.2024.1429305

Review article

Bostanci, N, Grant, M & Kebschull, M 2025, 'Biological Definition of Periodontal Diseases: A Historical Review of Host-Response Diagnostics and Their Implications for Disease Classification', Periodontology 2000. https://doi.org/10.1111/prd.70005

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Periodontal Diseases