As an Associate Professor, her research takes an interdisciplinary approach to education, social justice and human flourishing. Since receiving my PhD (2017) I have been involved in over £1.4M of grant capture (2020-24), from 10 different awarding bodies, where 15 of 18 submissions I have led as Principal Investigator.
My core interests are in devising creative and novel approaches to address challenges faced by marginalised or high-risk vulnerable groups in society such as the homeless, women and girls who are victims of domestic abuse and violence, looked after children, prisoners and high risk youth (suicide prevention).
She holds two prestigious Research Fellowships (UKRI Policy Fellowship 2024-25) and a British Academy Innovation Fellowship (2024) where her work focuses on leading a portfolio of work around homelessness begging and policing.
Melissa balances her research career with holding several leadership roles across the sector. In addition to Co-Directing the Diversifying Leadership Programme, she is also a member of the Research External Advisor Group for Advance HE.