Assistant Professor of Neurology
How alcohol and other dietary factors modulate the gut microbiome. Central nervous system inflammation and regeneration in multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Melamed is a physician scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical School at UT Austin. She received her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her MD and PhD through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. She then completed internship in Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Neurology residency and Neuroimmunology fellowship at Stanford University, where she served as the Chief Resident of Education. Her clinical area of expertise is in the care of adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica, transverse myelitis and a variety of neuroinflammatory conditions. She teaches several courses on neuroinflammatory and autoimmune disorders for neurology residents and medical students at Dell Medical School, as well as for graduate and undergraduate students at UT Austin.
The research in Dr. Melamed’s lab seeks to understand gender-specific environmental risk factors and underlying disease mechanisms in MS with the goal of developing personalized treatments for male and female patients living with MS. Specifically, Dr. Melamed and her team are studying how alcohol and other dietary factors modulate the gut microbiome and central nervous system inflammation and regeneration in MS. Her lab utilizes a broad range of approaches, from molecular biology, immunology and immunohistochemistry techniques to behavioral animal studies and novel computational techniques. Dr. Melamed was recognized as Professor of the Semester by the UT Austin Senate of College Councils in 2019 and has been the recipient of the Chancellor's (Charles E. Young) Humanitarian Award, and Medical Student Teaching Awards. She was selected as one of Texas Monthly's 2019 Super Doctors Rising Stars.