Melissa Melough

Melissa Melough, PhD, RD


Assistant Professor
 302-831-8974

Office Location:
317 Tower at STAR

Dr. Melough is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences. She is a nutritional epidemiologist and studies the interrelationships of nutritional and environmental factors influencing human health. Dr. Melough’s work aims to identify dietary approaches to promote health or mitigate the harmful effects of environmental chemicals. Her research focuses on populations with greatest vulnerability to nutritional inadequacies or harmful chemical exposures such as those in key developmental life stages and historically disadvantaged communities. Dr. Melough’s current research projects examine the roles of endocrine disruptors in the development of obesity, the influences of maternal nutrition on childhood outcomes, and novel dietary approaches to reduce chemical exposures or their associated health consequences.

 

Education and Training: 

Postdoctoral Researcher, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, 2019-2022

PhD, Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Connecticut, 2019

Dietetic Intern, Yale-New Haven Hospital, 2012

BS, Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, 2011

 

Courses

  • BHAN 609: Survey Research Methods
  • HLPR 222: Introduction to Epidemiology

 

View a full list of publications here
 

Melough MM, Maffini MV, Otten JJ, Sathyanarayana S. Diet quality and exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals among US adults. Environ Res. 2022 Aug;211:113049. 

Melough MM, Murphy LE, Graff JC, Derefinko KJ, LeWinn KZ, Bush NR, Enquobahrie DA, Loftus CT, Kocak M, Sathyanarayana S, Tylavsky FA. Maternal Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D during Gestation Is Positively Associated with Neurocognitive Development in Offspring at Age 4-6 Years. J Nutr. 2021 Jan 4;151(1):132-139. 

Melough MM, Sakaki J, Liao LM, Sinha R, Cho E, Chun OK. Association between Citrus Consumption and Melanoma Risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Nutr Cancer. 2021;73(9):1613-1620. 

Sakaki JR, Melough MM, Provatas AA, Perkins C, Chun OK. Evaluation of estrogenic chemicals in capsule and French press coffee using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Toxicol Rep. 2020;7:1020-1024. 

Kim K, Melough MM, Sakaki JR, Ha K, Marmash D, Noh H, Chun OK. Association between Urinary Cadmium to Zinc Intake Ratio with Adult Mortality in a Follow-Up Study of NHANES 1988-1994 and 1999-2004. Nutrients. 2019 Dec 24;12(1). 

Chang AR, Miller ER 3rd, Anderson CA, Juraschek SP, Moser M, White K, Henry B, Krekel C, Oh S, Charleston J, Appel LJ. Phosphorus Additives and Albuminuria in Early Stages of CKD: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Kidney Dis. 2017 Feb;69(2):200-209.