Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz

About Melissa

• I always knew I wanted to go into biology—I grew up loving reading, playing in the dirt, catching lizards, and dissecting things.
• After earning my bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry, I went to the University of Texas Medical Branch for graduate school, initially thinking I wanted to study BSL-3 pathogens.
• As I rotated through labs, I realized that I wanted to study the immune response to emerging pathogens, which wasn’t possible with viruses that kill a person that quickly—I knew I needed to shift.
• I landed in a women’s health lab, which was a great fit for me because I was able to study the immune response to a virus over a few years while pursuing my Ph.D.
• I earned my Ph.D. and went on to do postdoctoral research in the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.
• I became an assistant research professor at Arizona State University, where I stayed for a few years before joining the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix as an assistant professor.
• I now work as an associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, where I teach basic medical sciences, obstetrics, and gynecology.
• Additionally, I’m the director of the Women’s Health Microbiome Initiative.