Dr Melissa is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Health Research at the University of Newcastle. She has a background in psychology and has developed a significant track record in women’s health around understanding the complex health and social outcomes for women. She is the co-lead for the Centre for Women’s Health Research’s Worldwide Wellness of Mothers and Babies (WWOMB) program and has expertise in contraceptive use and family planning across the reproductive life course in both high and low- and middle-income countries. Melissa also has a particular interest in chronic disease management, including the impact of psychosocial factors on physical health and healthcare outcomes. She is a former ARC DECRA recipient, and her current program of work draws together research strengths in chronic disease and contraceptive use and access as well as research methods (e.g., longitudinal modelling, data linkage, cohort recruitment) by examining the contraceptive decision-making practices of Australian women of reproductive age with chronic disease to provide much needed information regarding reasons for unintended pregnancy in this population.