Melissa Bauman, PhD
University of California, Davis
Profile
About the Speaker: Dr. Melissa Bauman is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology and a faculty member of the MIND Institute at UC Davis. She has a robust research portfolio and extensive experience leading large-scale interdisciplinary research and team-science approaches to complex biomedical research questions. Her program of research uses preclinical models to evaluate risk factors and develop novel therapeutic interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders. Her current research focuses on understanding how changes in the prenatal environment, in particular the maternal-fetal immune environment, may increase the risk for autism, schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She currently serves in leadership roles in two NIH P50 Grants – the UC Davis Conte Center and the MIND Institute IDDRC (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center). Dr. Bauman also serves as the Associate Dean for Research Infrastructure for the UC Davis School of Medicine (SOM). In this role, she is developing a strategic plan for oversight and sustainability of SOM cores and shared resource facilities and implementing the new SOM space policy.
In addition to her research interests, Dr. Bauman also has a strong commitment to advancing women’s careers in science and medicine. She served as the Director of the UC Davis Health Women in Medicine and Health Sciences (WIMHS) program from 2018-2024 and led efforts to improve gender equity in academic medicine. She has participated in AAMC Early and Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminars and is an alumna of the 2022-2023 class in the national Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program. Dr. Bauman has also co-taught a first-year seminar on Women in Science for over a decade and is currently offering this class through the UC Davis University Honor Program curriculum.
For Further Information, Contact: Clark Kellogg at kellogg@waisman.wisc.edu
The seminar series is funded by the John D. Wiley Conference Center Fund, the Friends of the Waisman Center and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grant P50HD105353.
