Dr Melissa Grant PhD

• PhD Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, 2001.
• BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, 1997.

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. She has also continued with her interests in proteomic analysis investigating inflammatory fluids from the gingival crevice and from around inflamed hearing aids. She is co-director of the Periodontal Research Group (PRG). 

Melissa has successfully completed the associate program of post graduate certificate in learning and teaching in higher education (PGCert LTHE) and is involved in

• Dental Surgery BDS 
• Biomedical Materials Science BMedSc
• MSc Microbiology and Infection
• Biochemistry

Melissa is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the areas of:

The exploration of periodontal and peri-implant inflammation in humans and other mammals across the life course. 

Understanding disease progression and prevention in the oral cavity or peri-implant.

Melissa’s research centres around interdisciplinary collaborations and clinician-scientist partnerships:

She is involved in a number of projects revealing biomarker discovery, either in programmes of oral health, investigating gingivitis and periodontitis, or at epithelial-implant interfaces in the mouth and surrounding bone anchored hearing aids (BAHAs). Additionally she is involved in examining the fundamental process of inflammation at the cellular level, particularly of the neutrophil. 

Melissa is a member of a number of professional bodies to support her research including: The Biochemical Society; The British Society of Proteome Research, The International Association of Dental Research, The Society of Free Radical Research and the Academy of Osseointegration.  She is an Impact Champion for the School of Dentistry. She has undergone Medici training and Aurora training and is an Athena Swan lead for the School of Dentistry. 

She is an ambassador for public engagement for the School of Dentistry and former Crucible labs alumna. She continues to collaborate in innovative blue skies research and engage the public and young scientists through public and school presentations, workshops and art-science collaborations, such as the HAB project (which, in collaboration with NASA and Rocket Mavericks, searches for novel extremophiles in the stratosphere that could be exploited for novel functions). She has been a fellow at Birmingham Open MEdia since 2014. She is an academic curator of the Ronald Cohen Collection and leads the Open Wide public engagement project at the School of Dentistry.