Dr Melissa Grant BSc, PhD, SFHEA

Mel Grant

School of Dentistry
Associate Professor

Contact details

Telephone
+44(0)121 466 5520
Email
m.m.grant@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@laughingsnail
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Clinical Sciences
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

  • Postgraduate Research Lead, School of Dentistry 2021 onwards
  • Equality Diversity and Inclusion Lead, School of Dentistry 2011 onwards
  • Deputy Programme Lead for Biomedical Materials Science, 2021 onwards
  • 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 onwards

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 onwards

Working with industry

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

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Grant, M, Scott, AE, Matthews, J, Griffiths, HR & Chapple, I 2023, 'Pre-conditioning of gingival epithelial cells with sub-apoptotic concentrations of curcumin prevents pro-inflammatory cytokine release.', Journal of Periodontal Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/jre.13114

Shepherd, FR, Davies, K, Miners, KL, Llewellyn-Lacey, S, Kollnberger, S, Redman, JE, Jenkins, RL, Grant, M, Ladell, K, Price, DA & McLaren, JE 2023, 'The superantigens SpeC and TSST-1 specifically activate TRBV12-3/12-4+ memory T cells', Communications Biology, vol. 6, 78. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04420-1

Grant, M, Pasha, S, Inui, T, Chapple, I, Harris, S & Holcombe, L 2022, 'A mass spectrometric approach to the proteomic profiling of the Canis lupus familiaris acquired enamel pellicle on hydroxyapatite discs', Journal of Veterinary Dentistry, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 241-249. https://doi.org/10.1177/08987564221097188

Virdee, S, Oglah Albaaj, FS, Camilleri, J, Grant, M, Walmsley, D, Cooper, P & Tomson, P 2022, 'Antimicrobial efficacy of different irrigant solutions using a novel biofilm model: an in vitro confocal laser scanning microscopy experiment', The European journal of prosthodontics and restorative dentistry. https://doi.org/10.1922/EJPRD_2419Virdee09

Grant, M, Taylor, JJ, Creese, A, Gowland, C, Burke, B, Doudin, K, Patel, U, Weston, P, Milward, M, Bissett, SM, Cooper, H, Kooijman, G, Rmaile, A, de Jager, M, Preshaw, PM & Chapple, I 2022, 'Discovery, validation, and diagnostic ability of multiple protein-based biomarkers in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid to distinguish between health and periodontal diseases', Journal of Clinical Periodontology, vol. 49, no. 7, pp. 622-632. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpe.13630

Muchová, M, Balacco, D, Grant, M, Chapple, I, Kuehne, S & Hirschfeld, J 2022, 'Fusobacterium nucleatum subspecies differ in biofilm forming ability in vitro', Frontiers in Oral Health, vol. 3, 853618. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2022.853618

Roberts, HM, Yonel, Z, Kantarci, A, Grant, MM & Chapple, ILC 2022, 'Impact of Gingivitis on Circulating Neutrophil Reactivity and Gingival Crevicular Fluid Inflammatory Proteins', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 19, no. 10, 6339. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19106339

Raindi, D, Rees, J, Hirschfeld, J, Wright, H, Dobbs, P, Moittie, S, White, K, Stahl, W, Martin, M, Redrobe, S, Hughes, F, Liptovszky, M, Baiker, K & Grant, M 2022, 'Periodontal health, neutrophil activity and cardiovascular health in captive chimpanzees', Archives of Oral Biology, vol. 134, 105342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2021.105342

Moittie, S, Jarvis, R, Bandelow, S, Byrne, S, Dobbs, P, Grant, M, Reeves, C, White, K, Liptovszky, M & Baiker, K 2022, 'Vitamin D status in chimpanzees in human care: a Europe wide study', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 17625. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21211-6

Hall, T, Hughes, E, Sajjad, H, Kuehne, S, Grant, M, Grover, L & Cox, S 2021, 'Formulation of a reactive oxygen producing calcium sulphate cement as an anti-bacterial hard tissue scaffold', Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, 4491. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84060-9

Mulkern, D, Hewitt, A, Parker, H, Batt, J, Yonel, Z & Grant, M 2020, 'Predicted salivary human protease activity in experimental gingivitis revealed by endoProteo-FASP approach', European Journal of Oral Sciences, vol. 128, no. 5, pp. 386-394. https://doi.org/10.1111/eos.12729

Patent

Grant, M & Chapple, I Oct. 17 2019, DIAGNOSTICS OF MILD OR ADVANCED PERIODONTITIS, Patent No. WO2019197449. <https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2019197449>

Preprint

Irving, OJ, Matthews, L, Coulthard, S, Neely, RK, Grant, MM & Albrecht, T 2023 'Sterically enhanced control of enzyme-assisted DNA assembly' bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.27.530245

Review article

Grant, MM 2021, 'Pyruvate kinase, inflammation and periodontal disease', Pathogens, vol. 10, no. 7, 784, pp. 784. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10070784

Virdee, SS, Butt, K, Grant, M, Camilleri, J, Cooper, PR & Tomson, PL 2019, 'A systematic review of methods used to sample and analyse periradicular tissue fluid during root canal treatment', International Endodontic Journal, vol. 52, no. 8, pp. 1108-1127. https://doi.org/10.1111/iej.13104

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Periodontal Diseases

Culture and collections

Schools, institutes and departments

Services and facilities