Biography

Melissa Melby, Ph.D., is a professor with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delaware. She is a medical anthropologist with training in chemistry, environment and development, public health, and nutritional epidemiology. She received a Ph.D. in biological and medical anthropology from Emory University in 2007.

Melby's research examines the ways in which environmental factors, broadly conceived to include physical, biological, and sociocultural influences, interact with human development to result in health outcomes. She has conducted research in Japan for over 20 years on topics ranging from aging and menopause and maternal child health to understandings about nutrition and food education and complementary and alternative medicine. She is currently conducting research on public understandings of the microbiome.

In recent years, Melby's most frequent course offerings have included:

• Introduction to Anthropology of Health
• Medical Anthropology
• Nutritional Anthropology
• Culture, Health & Environment
• Farm to Table
• Biological/Medical Anthropology Tutorial

Melby is currently co-director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Humans & Microbiome Program. She was formerly the Coordinator for Population Health Initiatives in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Delaware.​

Select Publications

M.J. Blaser, M.K. Melby, M. Lock, M. Nichter. 2021. “Accounting for Variation in and Overuse of Antibiotics among Humans." Bioessays. 

B.B. Finlay … M.K. Melby, et al. 2021. “The Hygiene Hypothesis, the COVID Pandemic, and Consequences for the Human Microbiome." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

M.K. Melby, T. Yoshino, D. Tonob, Y. Horiba, K. Watanabe. 2019. “Differences in Demographics and Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Between Patients Attending Integrative Kampo versus Biomedical Clinics in Japan." Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 

B.B. Finlay, S. Pettersson, M.K. Melby, T.C. Bosch. 2019. “The Microbiome Mediates Environmental Effects on Ageing." BioEssays. 

M.K. Melby, G. Yamada, D. Schwartz, P. Surkan. 2019. “One Size Does Not Fit All: Examining Ethnicity in Gestational Weight Gain Guidelines." Health Care for Women International. 

M.K. Melby, L. Loh, J. Evert, C. Prater, H. Lin, and O. Khan. 2016. "Beyond 'Medical Missions' to Impact-Driven Short-Term Experiences in Global Health (STEGH): Principles and Recommendations for Learners and Practitioners." Academic Medicine.

M.K. Melby. 2005. "Vasomotor Symptom Prevalence and Language of Menopause in Japan." With associated editorial by M. Lock. "Cross-Cultural Vasomotor Symptom Reporting: Conceptual and Methodological Issues." Menopause.