Prof Melissa Westwood BSc, PhD (Manchester)
Professor of Endocrinology, Associate Vice-President (Research)
Biography
Melissa is Professor of Endocrinology (2015) and Associate Vice-President for Research (2018). She is also Academic Director of the University’s MRC-funded Doctoral Training Partnership. Previously, she was Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (2015-18) and Lead of the Centre for Women's Health in the Faculty's Institute of Human Development (2011-2015).
Melissa graduated from the University of Manchester with a first class honours degree in Anatomical Sciences in 1991 and began her PhD studies, also at the University of Manchester, on the role of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis in diabetes. However, an unexpected finding led her into pregnancy research and she was awarded a prestigious Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (1997) to pursue her PhD findings, which resulted in a number of key studies relating to IGF function in normal and compromised pregnancies. ‘Finding solutions to pregnancy problems’ became the focus of her research; her current interests, funded through Research Council and UK charities, include the influence of maternal hormonal and nutritional signals on implantation and placental development/function, aiming to develop new strategies for clinical intervention.
Melissa is an elected member of the Council of the Society for Endocrinology and a member of the International Federation of the Placenta Association's Executive Committee. She serves on the Editorial Board for Placenta and the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.
Qualifications
1991 BSc (Hons) Anatomical Sciences (1st class), University of Manchester
1995 PhD Medicine, University of Manchester
2006 PGCE Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, University of Manchester
Memberships of committees and professional bodies
Society for Endocrinology
American Endocrine Society
European Placenta Group
International Federation of the Placenta Associaltions
Fellow Society of Biology
External positions
External Examiner, Reproductive and Developmental Sciences BSc, Imperial College London
Biology, Medicine and Health (BMH) Domains
Related information
Publications
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review