Melissa received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona.

In 2006, she joined Genentech. During her 14 years with Genentech, Melissa held a wide variety of positions including; Medical Science Liaison (MSL), Medical Science Director on HER2 Breast Cancer Medical Teams, a Managed Care Liaison Field Manager, and Inclusion Principal in the Chief Diversity Office where she was focused on developing external partnering strategies to address health equity and clinical research disparities through the Genentech Advancing Inclusive Research initiative.

Melissa is now the National Director, Hematology MSL Team at Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. Adaptive Biotechnologies is a pioneer and leader in immune-driven medicine that aims to improve people’s lives by learning from the wisdom of their adaptive immune systems.