Melinda is a Postdoctoral Research Officer and Computational Microbiologist with a special interest in antimicrobial resistance, mobile genetic elements and the evolution of clinically relevant human pathogens. Melinda has skills in genomics, bioinformatics, evolutionary biology and population genetics and works both in basic research and in translating research into clinical use.
Melinda completed a Masters of Biotechnology (commendation for academic excellence) in 2013 and was awarded her PhD from the University of Queensland in early 2019 investigating the roles of mobile genetic elements, antimicrobial resistance and DNA methylation in the evolution of Escherichia coli lineages. Melinda has presented at numerous local and national conferences, receiving the Australian Society of Microbiology Student Travel Award (2017) and the Bacterial Pathogenesis (BacPath) Conference Best Student Poster Presentation Award (2017). In late 2019 Melinda moved to the Williamson Group, working on Neisseria spp. and investigating transmission, population genetics, evolution and antimicrobial resistance.